


You Stand Before Us

by Krasimer



Series: The Summerhold Chronicles [15]
Category: Danny Phantom, Don't Starve (Video Game)
Genre: And Dan is left dealing with them, Buckle up folks, But maybe give this AU a chance?, Crossover, F/M, Here is where it comes in handy to remember, I know I write to my own specific tastes, I'm pretty proud of this story, It won't make sense otherwise, Johnny's shadow is her brother, M/M, Pariah Dark has children, Remember the world I've been building?, So is the shadow that haunted the Nightmare Throne, Spectra Is Her Own Warning, This is going to be a wild ride., Those children are evil, Until it is finished, Vlad has issues in every timeline, You'll have to read all of it, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-05-30 15:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 46,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15099986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: Just a warning, folks: read the rest of the series before you read this. I've developed characters in a way that makes sense but only if you know what is happening. Thank you for being interested, but this is an AU over 100K in development. I just want the best understanding to occur when you're reading.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a warning, folks: read the rest of the series before you read this. I've developed characters in a way that makes sense but only if you know what is happening. Thank you for being interested, but this is an AU over 100K in development. I just want the best understanding to occur when you're reading.

“State your name before our council.”

“Rewind,” the ghost who had given trouble to so many peered up at the Observants as they sat in their seats, watching him. “Formerly Janus Corritone, the former student of the previous Master of Time.”

He sneered and settled back in the hold of the guards.

Around him, murmurs erupted, whispers of excited terror as his fellow prisoners tittered about who he was. It was almost humiliating, in a way. To have been so strong, to have had Clockwork’s power in his hands, and to have it stripped away by one of the rarest creatures in existence.

A Halfa.

There had only been five in the entirety of history – three of them created by human meddling. The most recent one before Phantom and Plasmius and Switchup had been one of the survivors of an attack upon her village.

Rewind sighed and looked to the floor.

Wasn’t even worth it to hold a grudge. Phantom and Plasmius had managed to work together, past their history, and get Clockwork back together somehow. That had been unprecedented. Their rivalry was known far and wide, past and present.

Two of the other ghosts being tried caught his attention and Rewind frowned as he watched them.

One of them was a Shadow.

The other was Spectra.

He had betrayed all he had been taught – he had been willful and pigheaded and dangerous – and he could see part of why their teacher had chosen Clockwork instead of him. Rewind had been too caught up in the big picture, ignoring the intricate details.

Clockwork had always been better at seeing them, choosing the correct path based on something so small it might have gone otherwise ignored by someone else. The very fact that Rewind had lost because of a team-up he had not anticipated was enough to tell him that their teacher had been right. The small things were something he had trouble seeing.

But right now, they were all he could focus on.

“Are you prepared to face your crimes?” came the voice of an Observant.

“Yes,” Rewind didn’t even look up at them.

Spectra, from where she sat, looked far too much like the cat that got the canary – her fanged smile was in full-force and her clawed hands looked relaxed where they sat in her lap.

From the brief time he had worked with her, Rewind had a few instincts about how she was.

She enjoyed playing with her victims, she preferred drawing out the process that made them her victims, and she did not care if they ended up dead as a result of her actions.

She rather enjoyed it, actually.

Rewind took a moment to gather his courage – the poor, ignored creature that it was – and turned to face the Observants. “Before I am given over to the recollection of my crimes, may I have a moment outside?” he paused, then shook his head. He had to move faster. “It may be the last time I am allowed to breathe air that is not a confined space, and it can be considered a last request. I promise, I will not even ask for a visit or a break after this.”

There was no way the Observants would go for this, but he had to try.

They deliberated among themselves, quiet whispers that did not reach his ears, and Rewind stood under the cycloptic glares for a minute. He had to try.

_He had to try._

“Very well,” the Observants stood as one. “We will take a short recess while the trials are re-organized to allow for your break.”

“Everything on time,” Rewind muttered as the guards billowed forward and pressed him towards the door. If he knew the Ghost Zone as well as he liked to think, there would be someone useful outside. The power suppressor they slapped around his neck was like an itch, burrowing deep into the core of him, but it would have to do. With some hope and a little luck, he would find what he needed.

Out on the steps, as far as they would let him go, he found Walker.

Sending quiet thanks to every deity he knew, Rewind approached the much-feared warden of the prison that held the lesser offenders. “Spectra,” he told the other. “She is _planning_ something.”

“…How do you know?”

“I just know,” he glanced towards the doors. “She is sitting far too calmly and happily to not be planning something. I do not know what it is, nor how she is accomplishing it, but you need to tell Phantom and his people.” Behind him, Rewind could tell that his guards had perked up and were listening. That was fine, the message did not need to be a secret from anyone but Spectra.

He wanted the destruction of human order, not the extinction of existence as they knew it.

Walker stared at him for a moment, his eyes hard and slightly narrowed, before he nodded. “I’ll tell him,” he said quietly. He nodded again, a goodbye to the guards before he moved further down the steps.

He hadn’t even gotten to the exit portal before chaos was unleashed.

 

X

 

The world around him felt tense.

Like everything was waiting with breath held and hearts hammering in chests – like the moment in a horror movie where the scare chord picked up and the monster was just around the corner. Something bad had happened, he could feel it, but it hadn’t reached them yet.

Dan stood up, feeling only a little bad about cutting Danielle’s sentence off.

“Something is coming.” He told her when she fussed at him. “Get to the others, get the little ones into the panic room I know Vlad has in this house, get yourself to a vantage point you can see the outside.”

With a small nod, Danielle stood up and glanced out the window.

No questions. Good. Questions cut into their preparation time – the less time they had, the more likely it was that the threat would actually manage to hurt them. She sped off, going intangibly through a wall and disappearing from sight.

The air felt the same as when he and the others had gone after Spectra and Bertrand.

When Dana had been kidnapped.

He didn’t like that.

The air feeling the same was bad enough but being around his so-called siblings had made him grow a conscience of sorts, apparently. He worried over them, what would and could happen to them. Dana was just about his favorite – something about being a big brother to a small child who just wanted him around, who didn’t seem to care about how scary he was, was a soothing feeling.

It was hard to admit to himself, let alone others, but he cared for his small, scattered, and odd family.

Even Vlad.

Sometimes.

A shadow reached into the room and he looked at it. “William,” he greeted. “Get Wilson to the panic room. He is good for information, not for fighting. Something is coming.”

The shadow withdrew, flicking a tendril once to show it had understood.

Dan drew himself up, took a deep breath, then dove through the ground into the lab, having turned intangible. The portal had been fixed, able to be used as a proper doorway between the human world and the Ghost Zone once more. The green fluctuations of the ectoplasmic gate gave off a faint glow the reflected in Dan’s hair, turning the silver to a sickly mimic.

It was not a good day to be more human than usual.

A heart was beating in his chest and a pulse thrummed in his throat as he clenched his fists and waited.

 

X

 

The courtroom was a disaster when Rewind managed to get back into it.

Desks were overturned, ghosts were scattered everywhere – his fellow prisoners were unresponsive when he tried to wake them. The Observants were _somewhere_ , hopefully hiding behind tables and in other rooms.

Spectra stood in the middle of the damage, grinning in a way that made Rewind nervous.

Unlike how she usually wore her hair, it was down around her shoulders, loose red curls that looked like blood. Her suit was gone, replaced with a flowing gown that hugged her curves and fell to the floor in layers and waves. At her side was the shadow, grinning the same smile as her, and Rewind felt something sink in his chest as he watched it.

Within moments, following a hand motion, the shadow shifted into a human-looking form that looked too much like Spectra’s for Rewind to be comfortable with it. Close-cropped red hair too short to have the same curls, but it was obvious that they were related. The shadow now wore an old-fashioned suit, one that seemed to match the era Spectra’s clothes were from.

“I really must thank you,” Spectra laughed. “I’ve been looking for my brothers _everywhere_ and if you hadn’t gotten me involved in your idiotic plot, I never would have found one of them!” she put a hand on the shadow’s shoulder, laughing again. “My dearest brothers and I were separated!”

“Eons ago,” the shadow agreed. “Far too long.”

“But you see,” Spectra continued. “Our powers are weaker when we’re apart. The Observants made sure we would never be able to find each other. My schemes and plots have all failed – gone too far, according to some – because I was alone in them. But with my brothers?” she scoffed. “Oh, what _fun_ we’re going to have!”

“And you?” the shadow gestured to Rewind. “You’re never going to be able to tell anyone what we’re up to.”

The siblings each raised a hand, a conjoined ectoplasmic blast forming around their fists. In seconds, it grew large enough that Rewind knew it could possibly destroy him. “You feed off of misery,” he said over the noise of the blast building up even further. “What does he feed off of? Think of it as my last request, this question being answered.”

“Well,” the shadow grinned again. “I enjoy the taste of your luck.” He flexed his hand, claws out. “And yours just ran out.”

Rewind closed his eyes as the blast bore down on him.

 

X

 

Walker woke up at the edge of the Observant’s portal, feeling like he had been trampled.

The courtroom was in shambles, the entire building practically torn apart, and it made something like a panic rise in his chest. Walker sat up, managing to make it to his knees to stare at the ruins of the building he had just been standing next to.

What had happened?

The dangerous ghost, the one that had attacked Phantom and his family, had led an attack into the human world, had warned him of Spectra doing something, planning _something._

Was this what she had been planning?

A part of him, separate from the distant-and-logical, was inordinately glad that his son wasn’t here. Kitty, either. They often misbehaved, got into enough trouble to come see him for a time, but they had never gone against the underlying rules of the Ghost Zone. Not in any way as to need to come be tried by the Observants. Johnny and Kitty were, hopefully, far from here.

Walker bolted to his feet.

The shadow, however, _was here_. Powerful enough to team up with Spectra and cause this sort of damage. That was why he’d been here in the first place – make sure the thing that had murdered his entire family was tried and sentenced and _sealed away._ The nightmare that had dogged his wife, then his son, then him.

He had wanted to make sure it got sealed away for a long time.

Something moved at the nearly-collapsed doorway and he ducked behind a floating piece of debris. Just in time, it turned out: Spectra and someone who looked a lot like her came out of the ruin of the building.

Spectra’s voice made something in Walker shudder, but he kept still and silent. “Kravin?” her voice rang out through the silence. “Do we know where Urich is?”

“Not yet,” Kravin was apparently the one at her side. “But we have clues. You actually were nearest to the ones who might know.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“The brat has new friends; in particular,” Kravin chuckled as they walked across the courtyard. “The one who controls shadows. The one who got you caught and sent here. The one you had to fight. He has had dealings with Urich – I recognize the scent of his power anywhere, and you smell of it, dear sister.”

Walker hoped they were too preoccupied to notice him.

If they were the ones who had ripped apart the courtroom, he stood next to no chance of fighting them and walking away with his existence intact. Especially not if they were who he thought they were – the outfits were a giveaway.

Not many still wore the court dress of a long-locked-away King.

 

X

 

Dan tensed up even further when Danny entered the room.

“We still have the Fright Knight’s sword,” he didn’t even look at the Halfa. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Danny came to stand next to him, taking a deep breath. “So Danielle’s on sentry duty, you’re down here watching the portal like you’re a bulldog or something, and the kids are…Where?”

“Vlad’s panic room,” Dan muttered. “Wilson should be there, too. William is probably watching over them.”

Danny nodded. “Good.”

“Are you here to lecture me about setting this up like we’re going to war?” Dan asked after a beat of silence between them. “Because I do not think I have the patience for that, if you are. Something is coming – I don’t know what it is, but something is coming. Something big and dangerous and I—”

“I get it,” Danny put a hand on his shoulder. “I do. If it’s enough to scare you, I am going to sit here and listen to what you’re saying.”

“I’m not _afraid_ ,” Dan snarled reflexively.

Danny smiled at that. “Alright.”

“There is just…Whatever is coming, I can sense it. I think it may be something I’ve gained from my time spent with Clockwork. I do not have the finite abilities, the power to see the small details, but I can tell that something is coming. I suppose I’ve gained the bigger parts, such as being able to sense the storm on the horizon.” Dan kept looking at the portal, barely even glancing away as someone moved to stand on his right side as well.

Vlad sighed and lifted his chin. “I could have sworn we were done with having to fight the beings that come out of this portal.” He said quietly.

“Not a chance, frootloop,” Danny leaned around Dan and grinned at the other Halfa. “As long as there are ghosts like the Fright Knight and Pariah Dark around, we’re going to have to take up defensive positions around the portals of the world and fight back whatever and whoever comes through.”

“Wonderful,” Vlad scoffed. “I am so _glad_ you’ve dragged me into the position of a hero – I am not made for heroics, Daniel.”

“You’ll get there,” Danny laughed a little.

“Could the two of you, perhaps, flirt later?” Dan grumbled. “Something is coming. Whoever it is, this is going to be big. Perhaps even bigger than the fight against Rewind.”

“We’re not flirting!” both of the Halfas shot back at him, two sets of cheeks flushing a brilliant red color.

It made something inside of Dan want to laugh.

He bit back the sound, however, and gestured at both of them. “Transform. If something comes through that damages or destroys humans, you need to not be human at that time.”

“You are,” Danny wrapped his hand around Dan’s wrist. “You’ve got a pulse and a heartbeat, today. Your hair isn’t doing to firey thing it usually does.”

“Yes, well,” Dan looked at him. “Nothing to be done about that.”

 

X

 

Something shook the school.

Freddie looked up from where he and Sidney sat, eyes narrowing as he watched dust shake off the ceiling of the basement. They had been talking but now Freddie had gone silent. Sidney, sitting next to him, looked up as well. “Did the school have renovations scheduled for today?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t think so,” Freddie looked at him. “Wouldn’t the Bookkeeper have told us?”

“Yeah,” Sidney nodded. “He would have. He knows that it’s better to tell us than to have us panic about things. And if he didn’t tell us, then Henry would have. Either one of them.”

Taking Sidney’s hand in his own, Freddie stood up. His noose floated along behind him as he moved towards the stairs and walked up them. “I don’t like this,” he said quietly. “There’s nothing in the immediate area that would have construction going on, either, so somethin’ has to be _wrong._ We need to find them, then probably the Halfas.”

Sidney nodded, then darted ahead of him and peeked through the door from the basement to the rest of the school. “No one out there,” he reported back.

“We should go to the Bookkeeper’s classroom.” Freddie led the way, glancing down every hall they passed. Something was off, something big. “Hopefully, they’ll be there. Everythin’ about this seems off,” he clasped their hands a little tighter, reassuring himself that Sidney was still there.

“We’re here, actually,” Henry’s voice was quiet as he slipped across the hallway to stand next to them. The Bookkeeper followed him, glancing around nervously. “I suspect we should make our way to Masters’ house, find out what is happening from them.” He glanced at his lover, only seeming to settle his nerves once Lancer was standing next to him. “By the pricking of my thumbs,” he muttered.

“Something wicked this way comes,” Lancer completed the quote.

The four of them made it out of the school together, the older-by-age-at-death ghosts keeping the teenage-looking ones behind them. “I know you can stand up for yourselves,” Lancer told them, quiet and anxious sounding. “But I suspect it will be some time before my habit of watching over people who look the age of my students disappears. You still look like children to me, so I think this is just how my mind is going to work.”

“’S’cool.” Freddie waved him off. “I’m always going to be overprotective of my nerd, so you are not alone in wanting to keep him safe. Just means I got someone watchin’ my back, too.”

The four of them looked up as the sky _burned_ , melting into a wave of firey-red that made them shrink back.

“That,” Sidney squeezed Freddie’s hand. “Is not good.”

 

X

 

Deep within the Ghost Zone, there was a little girl.

When she got angry, fires tended to spread around her in large patches – contained only by the ectoplasmic nature of the Ghost Zone. Somewhere nearby, in terms of how easy it was to get to, there was an old circus camp. The little ghost girl could often be found in the camp, dancing with a woman that could be found there.

Sometimes, she could be found happily balancing across a highwire, followed closely by a mime carrying an umbrella.

Occasionally, she could even be found riding around on the shoulders of the strongman.

Her name was Abigail Carter.

The woman’s name was Charlotte Luxen.

The mime was Wesley Charles.

The strongman was Gustav ‘Wolfgang’ Lindt.

As the feeling of terror rose throughout the Ghost Zone, the small group that had turned themselves almost into a family stood together. They watched, together, hand-in-hand, as the skies above them turned dark and stormy.

Had they been watching when Pariah Dark was released, they would have likened it to that day.

Instead, they turned to the door that stood at the edge of their camp.

Beyond the door was a realm they had all escaped from, a land somewhere between dreaming and death. Abigail looked concerned as she tightened her grip on the hands of Wolfgang and Wes, her small face taking on an almost-fae expression as she watched it closely.

Charlie stood in front of her, arms outstretched and ready to defend her. “We should move from this area,” she told them, her face hard. It had been over a century of having to defend herself, of moving through the dark and being one of the creatures that thrived in it. She was not going to let her found-family be taken by whatever nightmare was going to burst through the door.

She and Abigail stared at it, together, and waited.

Something battered against the other side of the door, a screeching howl rending the air that Charlie vaguely recognized as the shadow that had haunted the Throne. The _thing_ that had dogged Maxwell’s – William’s – footsteps for an age and a half, the thing that had nearly managed to tear poor Wilson’s sanity to shreds.

Charlie waited.

A cracked appeared in the door and she turned to the men of the group. Nodding silently, she jutted her chin out towards Abigail.

For her part in things, Abigail allowed herself to be picked up and hauled away.

It was only seconds after they had disappeared into their forest that the door splintered and shattered, allowing the shadow to step through. Charlie stood before the creature, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “You think you are going to find them,” she told the shadow, a faint smile curling her lips. “That you can step into the world of the living and tear their lives apart?”

“I know I can,” the shadow hissed at her, raising bloodied hands. “And no matter how much you try, you can’t stop me.”

“A long time ago, when I was a little girl,” Charlie shook her head as she spoke, letting her hands curl into claws. “A shadow of my very own found me. She told me her name was Leena, and that she was my friend. My parents thought she was imaginary,” she scoffed. “She told me things to keep me safe. The oddest thing about her was that, when I started working with a man named William Carter, I couldn’t hear her anymore.

“When I was dragged into your world, I could suddenly hear her voice loud and clear.” Charlie sped forward and grabbed the shadow’s hands in her own, barely even flinching at the bloodied mess that ended up on her skin as a result. “She taught me how to survive, even if my survival was by tearing parts of myself off. By her instructions, I became the Grue.”

The shadow snarled at her, eyes narrowed and burning a bright white. “You—”

“Your dear sister says hello,” Charlie drew back an arm and slashed it across the shadow’s face, hissing and watching as the shadows moved closer and draped themselves over her, protecting her and changing her clothes. “And Urich?”

The shadow only hissed.

“Leena is _very_ disappointed in you.”

The air was still for a moment before it exploded, the shadow flying through the air and into the rest of the Ghost Zone. When it hit the ground, the look of it changed.

Red curls tumbled down around boney shoulders, bright green eyes staring up from behind the hair.

Charlie watched as the man stood up and glared at her, wiping bright green ectoplasm off of his bottom lip. “You think you can win?” he growled the words out. “You think a simple parlor trick, powered by the sister I _imprisoned_ , will help you win this battle?”

“No,” Charlie put a hand on her hip, letting the other play in the air for a moment, gathering shadows to her palm. “I think the tricks I’ve taught myself will. And my allies.”

As he tried to move towards her again, Charlie smashed her palms together, sending a tidal wave of shadows at him and washing him out of the territory. “And with just a pinch of luck,” she turned to the trees. “They’ll have already made it out of our zone and towards the house of another of our allies.”

Regal as any queen, Charlie let the shadows lift her through the portal into the rest of the Ghost Zone.


	2. Paranoid Void

Danny took a deep breath as he stood at Dan’s side, trying to keep himself calm.

There was something about the way his once-future sort-of-son held himself that made his hair stand up and gooseflesh prickle along his arm, even in ghost-form. Danny formed the ice gauntlets he had been favoring in fights, recently, and waited as Vlad shifted as well. Plasmius still looked altered, still looked like he had in college according to Vlad. Back when he had first become a Halfa.

It made the three of them look about the same age.

Danielle dropped through the ceiling and muttered something, shoving her hands through her hair. “The sky changed,” she reported back. “Looks like it’s on fire.” She glared upwards at her hair for a moment, pushing it back again; today, it looked like Dan’s usually did. It seemed there was still some flux to her appearance. She took up a spot next to Vlad, summoning her firey-looking ice to her hands. “Whatever’s coming, it’s coming fast.”

“Yes,” Dan nodded at his sister’s words. “But I think we’re first going to have some visitors.”

Seconds after he said that, the portal spit and sputtered before allowing some folks through. Walker stood at the front of the group, eyes wide and glowing as he looked around. “Needed to warn you,” he said quietly, focusing on Danny. “And these folks needed some guidance.” He gestured at the people who had followed in his wake.

One of them, a short man with dark hair and a Vaudeville mime’s outfit, looked up and waved at Danny.

“Who…?” Vlad frowned at the other man and Danny could see him taking note of the clothing he wore. A striped suit, like an old-timey strongman for a circus. The strongman was fussing over something and Danny could see a flash of blonde hair.

“This is Walker,” Danny started with what he knew, introducing the ghost warden. “He runs the prison in the Ghost Zone, he’s Johnny Thirteen’s dad. The other two,” he shrugged, then turned to Walker. “This is Vlad. I think you know of him, but you’ve never met?” he watched as the strongman startled for a second, whoever he was fussing over suddenly intent on seeing the room. “Vlad Masters, if we have time for introductions.”

“We do,” the strongman turned, allowing them to see who was standing with him. “Because this is Abigail Carter.”

Vlad’s face, already in his ghost-form, paled even further. “What?”

“I am Gustav Lindt,” the strongman held a hand up. “Better known as Wolfgang, the strongest man in world. Mime is Wesley Charles – Wes.” The mime held up the red umbrella in his hands, smiling. “We are friends – coworkers – of Maxwell the Great. There is one more in party, one we wait for still.”

With a trembling nod, Vlad looked down at Abigail. “The three of you are ghosts?”

“Yes,” Wolfgang nodded.

Abigail stepped closer to Vlad, shaking off Wolfgang’s protective hand when he tried to stop her. “You’re my nephew,” she spoke in a soft voice, intelligent and childish, nearly a century of a life unlived evident in how she sounded. “You are Wendy’s son.”

“I am,” Vlad nodded and kneeled down next to her. “What caused the four of you to come to find us?” he glanced up at Walker.

“I was at Rewind’s trial,” Walker closed his eyes for a second. “And then the building blew up. Spectra escaped, hand-in-hand with the Shadow that killed my family. The two of them were talking and the Shadow finally stopped hiding how he looked. He’s a luck-eater – Spectra’s brother, name of Kravin.” He waited until Danny and Vlad were both looking at him. “They were looking for another sibling, mentioned that the one ‘who controls shadows’ would know where that one was. I thought of William – Maxwell – immediately. The moment I could do so undetected, I came to find you.”

Abigail reached forward to clasp her small hands around Vlad’s wrist. “Our territory, our camp, was attacked by a Shadow as well. Charlie stayed behind to give us a head-start over him. He’s the one who hurt my uncle, who threatened Wilson and nearly made it so they never could leave. I think he’s the one that those others are looking for.” She looked to her companions to confirm it, then turned back to Vlad.

There was something about her that seemed so similar to her nephew that Danny wanted to bundle the both of them into a couple of blankets and make sure that nothing could ever hurt them again. From her appearance, Abigail had been about ten or eleven when she died.

“The two I witnessed walking away from the building,” Walker took a deep breath that he did not need. “Were wearing the court dress of an old king.”

Danny _froze._

Any other time, he would have been proud of himself for the pun – stupid jokes amused him – but this time all that kept running through his head was, “ _Which_ king?” and even as he asked, he already knew what the answer would be.

The nightmarish one he’d had to fight at fifteen, the one who’d nearly brought the world of the living into chaos and death. The one whose second-in-command’s sword was in Danny’s room in Vlad’s mansion.

The one who was kept locked away under chain and key, his items separated from him.

“Pariah Dark,” Walker said, his voice quiet.

Vlad’s intake of air was a hissed thing, his hands going tight on the fabric of his pants, his black hair wisping around his face. “ _What?_ ” he glanced at Danny, then Dan, then Danielle. “That – That _maniac_ is active again?”

“We would know if Pariah Dark himself was active,” Walker shook his head, glancing at Dan and Danielle as well. “There would be very distinct clues if he were loose again. But Spectra and the Shadow – they are from his court. I recognized the clothes. Not from personal experience, but from history books. The court of the Ghost King Pariah Dark was disbanded for the safety of existence. His lords and ladies were chased off to the far reaches of the Ghost Zone, his children were locked away as well, their powers inhibited by separating them.”

“…His children.” Dan frowned. “His _children._ ”

Walker groaned. “His heirs.”

Danielle looked between all of them. “Are we just playing hardball with stubborn and stupid thinking today?” she asked, incredulous. “If Spectra and the Shadow are powerful enough together that they were able to destroy the Observants’ hall, what does that mean?”

Eyes wide, Vlad’s head snapped up to look at her. “Spectra and the Shadow are Pariah Dark’s heirs,” he hissed the words out, practically bouncing to his feet. “And if the shadow looking for William and Wilson is their brother, then…” he turned on his heel and dashed up the stairs. “Keep an eye on the portal!” he shouted back. “DO NOT LET ANYTHING THROUGH!”

Danny watched as he dove through the wall, feeling like he wanted to follow him and watch his back.

 

X

 

Wilson had been having a good day.

He and William had been spending the day researching and keeping an eye on the children – William, as it turned out, adored babysitting the lot of them. Dana and Damien were almost as fond of him as they were of their father. Either of the two smallest could often be found sitting on William’s shoulders.

Dawyn and Daven liked sitting quietly nearby to him, and Darren would make slow, floating passes around the room. The three of them liked the quiet and calm of William, Wilson supposed.

He liked it too, after all, he could understand that.

An anchor in a world that seemed to be going so fast as to have left them behind for a while. Thus: research. Technological advances, advancement in medical and science, the changing of fashions and where exactly trends had come from.

All of it was fascinating and strange and Wilson loved every second of learning about it.

But then Dan had told William to gather them all in the saferoom that Vlad had built into his home. Their research had been left on the desk upstairs, waiting for them to return. Apparently, something dangerous was coming.

And if he hadn’t felt quite so exhausted, suddenly, Wilson might have been voicing some more of his complaints. He hadn’t felt this tired for what seemed like an age, not since he had been on the Nightmare Throne and he’d been tricked by the Shadow. The one that had made itself look like him, look like Maxwell before him.

Something felt like it shifted in his chest.

Wilson had been having a good day.

 

X

 

William herded the children into the corner, watching helplessly as Wilson fell to his knees in the opposite corner.

He felt his own heart thudding in his chest as he pressed Dana’s face into his shoulder, trying to keep her from seeing what was happening to Wilson. Damien, thankfully, was staying close to her as well, refusing to move more than a few inches away from her. It made William’s job easier.

The three boys were clustered behind him, all three of them with a hand curled into the fabric of his shirt.

With the air filled with a scent he recognized as belonging to the Nightmare Throne, William began to panic. It was only made worse when he saw thin lines of old-looking blood draw themselves along Wilson’s arms and neck, his head dropping back. The line of his body looked painful, like something had burrowed into his chest and was tugging him upward until only the tops of his feet were still touching the ground.

Dana whimpered and he petted at her hair, shushing her gently.

He recognized those lines.

He knew that scent.

It had been some time since he had seen or smelled them, but he knew them all the same. They were the byproducts of the Nightmare Throne pushing through into a reality it was not native to. When he had first picked up the book that had taught him about the magics he could learn, he had encountered both of them there. William put a reassuring hand on Dawyn’s shoulder, thankful that the boy was the most solid of the three. “On my count,” he whispered, edging them towards the door. “We need to leave this room.”

“But—” Dawyn looked up at him with wide eyes. “We just…”

“I know,” William nodded, keeping his eyes mostly on Wilson. “But I can’t help him fight against what is happening if I am worried about you five being injured. I need you to go find your brother and your sister – whatever is happening where they are, it will be so much safer for you.”

He used his shadows to wrench open the door. “Go, now!” he hissed the words out, transferring Dana to Dawyn’s arms as he moved past. Damien flitted after her, squeaking almost indignantly as he moved to cling to her shoulder. When they were through the door, William slammed it shut again, using his shadows to lock and secure it. “Wilson?” he asked cautiously.

Wilson’s eyes snapped to him, something that was very much not the man he loved behind them. Instead of the softness usually directed at him, William saw something feral, wild and furious. “You need to let him go,” he said, fighting to keep his voice even.

“And what if I don’t?” came the voice he knew all too well. It was the Shadow, the thing that had tormented him when he’d inhabited the Nightmare Throne. The thing that he had forced to take Wilson’s place on the throne. “You two hurt me – I was _hurt_ , oh Maxwell the Great. I was abandoned after keeping care of you for _so long_ ,” the thing made Wilson’s normally gentle smile into a nightmarish thing, full of teeth and a too-widely-stretched mouth. It was garish and it made William’s heart hurt to see his lover like that. “The Throne must always have a King.”

“Why not find the actual king,” William took a step forward. “The one who actually belongs there?”

“Unfortunately, my father has been locked away.” The Shadow stared at him from behind Wilson’s eyes. “And I am so grateful that I locked a part of myself into him. It was easy, you know. All I had to do was convince him that you were fighting against him – poor thing, lost all hope he had for a time. In his time of need, I traced a Door Circle around him. Teleportation at its finest. Lock it onto a host and you can use them as a doorway,” it chuckled. “Can’t say the host survives the process.”

A cold dread filled William, then.

In the back of his mind, he heard a deep chuckle and the scent of a lit cigar filled his nose. ‘ _Let me help, pal’_ a voice crooned in his mind.

And because he was desperate, he let the small sliver of himself that was still Maxwell, self-serving and bitter, violently a king in his own right, come to the fore and manipulate the powers he’d retained after leaving the throne.

Letting his hands spread, Maxwell chuckled. “Sorry,” he said, smirking. “Can’t let that happen.”

The room flooded with shadows, wrapping around Wilson and keeping him from hitting the wall. Some of them slid down his throat, others binding his arms and legs. The bloodied lines on his limbs and throat were smudged, ripped off the skin bit by bit. An almost-feral snarl sounded from Maxwell’s throat as he dragged the still body of his lover closer, standing protectively over him as the Shadow formed on the other side of the room.

It didn’t look like either of them, now, finally having given up the pretense of that act.

Instead, it had long red curls, long enough to rival Vlad’s hair in length. There were bright green eyes that picked up a haunting glow as it glared at them, hands with sharp claws flexing restlessly at it’s sides. “You really shouldn’t have done that,” it purred the words out. “Dragging me fully into the human world, simply for the sake of one little scientist?”

“I would say it is worth it,” Maxwell lifted his chin, using his shadows to defend Wilson, forming a cage around him. A sound off to his left made his smirk bigger. “Especially when the backup arrives.”

“Backup?” the Shadow snorted. “Looks like a human, to me. Does he even – _hrrk!_ ” it was cut off as Vlad’s attack landed, sending it flying through a wall. Vlad himself landed next to Maxwell, both hands wreathed in flame-like orbs as he crouched into a ready position. The Shadow did not get back up, choosing instead to phase through a wall and disappear.

“Are you two alright?” Vlad asked, glancing at Maxwell.

“He is injured,” Maxwell picked Wilson up in his shadows, then transferred him to his arms. It was easiest to hold him bridal-style, clutched against his chest. “I am fine.”

“…Here,” Vlad bent down and picked something up, looking cautious. “You’ll need these.”

Maxwell glanced over at what he held: it was a pair of glasses, simple frames and thick lenses. “He’ll take them back once I retreat,” he told Vlad. “There are some things you do not know about him, about what happened to us.”

“I can see that,” Vlad tucked the glasses into Maxwell’s pocket. “Head down to the lab, I need to check on the children.”

With Wilson clutched against his chest, Maxwell opened up a shadow and walked into the lab, glancing over to see Danny looking at him, watching him intently. “He was hurt,” Maxwell hissed the words out. He walked over to a table and settled Wilson gently down on it, feeling William brushing against the scar that connected them in their mind.

A sigh that never seemed to end escaped him and when he set his hands on the edge of the table, William was the one closing his eyes and leaning over Wilson to check his pulse.

“William?”

He turned, keeping his hand on Wilson’s pulse, reassuring himself that his lover was still alive. “Wolfgang?”

Wolfgang smiled at him. “Is good to see you, old friend. Have brought others to see you, as well.” He moved to one side, bringing someone forward with one hand. “She has waited a long time.” He continued, managing to be quieter than William had ever heard him be.

Abigail Carter stepped forward, looking up at William with the most solemn eyes he had ever seen. “Hello, uncle.” She smiled, a small twist of her mouth. Despite her age, the oldest age she had ever reached, he could see nearly a century of unlived life in her eyes. For all that she looked like a ten-year-old girl, he could see the ages that had passed with her looking like a child.

Stepping away from Wilson for a moment, he felt lightheaded. “My dear,” he looked at his niece, his little brother’s daughter, and felt a flash of heartache as he remembered the brief time he had gotten to spend with Wendy. How bright and brilliant she had been, how much he had missed her when she’d had to leave again. “I,” he put a hand to his mouth, only vaguely aware of the arrival of another person, shadows rippling in the wake of their entrance into the room.

The lightheadedness won.

 

X

 

Danny shouted, startled, as William’s eyes rolled back in his head and the man dropped towards the floor like a stone.

For a moment, when shadows drew together and caught him, he suspected that William hadn’t actually fainted, but that thought stopped in its tracks when he saw the new arrival. With a suit that reminded him of the outfit William had been wearing when he’d arrived, she stood with her hands out, weaving the shadows together. “So,” she smiled when she caught Danny’s eye. “You must be a friend of his nephew, then?”

“I’m Danny,” he waved, blinking a couple of times. “…Who are you?”

“Charlie Luxen,” The woman directed the shadows to deposit William on the table next to Wilson before she walked over to him. “I see my friends made it safely.” She smiled at Abigail as well. “I am a friend of William’s,” she looked back towards him, her eyes distant for a second. “I’m glad he and his fella are doin’ okay.”

With a wave of her hand, Charlie formed a bench out of shadows and sat down on it, patting the seat next to her. “Well then, Danny, I think we need to talk.”

Danny sat down next to her. “…You used to be with William,” he started off. It seemed as good a place as any other. When Charlie nodded, leaning back on her hands and crossing her legs at the knee, kicking the air gently, it seemed to be the right place to start. “What is happening right now?”

“We were under attack,” Charlie shrugged one shoulder. “I delayed the attacked as best I could after sending them to come here. I knew you and yours would need some warning. With what is coming, everyone would need some warning.” She frowned, shifting her weight onto one hand and brushing her hair out of her face. “Did William ever tell you about his dream?”

“He said he saw you,” Danny hedged, careful. “You mentioned something about the family attacking us.”

“I told him they were all as rotten as they could be,” Charlie closed her eyes. “Wasn’t the whole truth, really. One of the siblings is named Leena – She found me when I was young, warned me of danger in the future if I did not listen to her. Her brothers, her sister, her father, she told me they were planning something and she’d been a wandering spirit for years, trying to find someone to believe her about them.” With another small smile, like she was telling a private joke, Charlie nodded. “I got some help, got a real sweetheart on our side of things.”

“Allies are good,” Danny leaned his elbows on his knees. “Who’ve you got?”

“His name’s Jacobus,” Charlie looked over towards the portal, considering it for a moment. “Said he’s looking for his son. Poor man’s worried about his boy.” She frowned at the portal, then raised a hand and clenched it, the metal screeching as it folded in on itself. “Jacobus Pointdexter. Told him I’d try to find his son for him. He can’t get out of where he is, anymore. Doesn’t know where he is, actually.”

“Oh, hey!” Danny watched as the portal crumpled. “Two things. One, I know a ghost with that last name, so that’s pretty easily solved. Two,” he gestured, a little wildly, at the portal. “ _Why?!”_

“Because ghosts can go intangible through it if they know it is still open enough to do so,” Charlie turned back to him. “But those who do not know cannot use it as a door.” She shrugged again. “You and yours will still be able to go through, but those who threaten us will not be able to. They will see only the shadow and the broken metal and assume the doorway is locked.”

Blinking a couple of times, Danny nodded.

“So you know Jacobus’ kid?” Charlie laughed, sounding relieved. “That is good, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find the guy and Jacobus would Fade without knowing where he was.”

“Sidney’s pretty easy to find once you know where to look,” Danny shrugged.

It was Charlie’s turn to blink, confused. “Sidney?” she made a face. “That’s not the name I was told. I mean, it could have been, if I misheard it.” She pursed her lips. “I could have sworn Jacobus told me his son was named Cagney. They do sound similar – I mean, enough that I could have easily misheard?”

Danny frowned. “Huh.” With a roll of his head, popping his neck, he leaned back on his own hands. “We can ask pretty easily, so we’ll do that.”

Up the stairs, he heard the door open, someone stopping at the top of the stairs. “DANIEL TIMOTHY FENTON!”

In a second, Danny felt his entire spine go stiff at his sister’s yell. “So, I have to go deal with that,” he told Charlie, standing up quickly. “My sister is here.” He turned towards the stairs and took a deep breath, feeling more threatened by that than by anything else that had happened so far.

Charlie nodded. “Before you go,” she stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know this is…A lot. We arrive out of nowhere, the world is in danger, the sky is on fire – But I want you to know this.” She leaned in and pulled him into a tight hug. “I will do my absolute best to help keep this nightmare from destroying everything. I will not let it hurt innocent people, ones who have never asked for this sort of thing.” She leaned back. “You are a hero, you’ve done this job for a decade. I just want you to know that you are not alone in it.”

A weight he hadn’t noticed suddenly lifted off his shoulders and Danny nodded. “Thank you,” he glanced over at Wolfgang and Wes, seeing them curled up in a corner together.

“They’ll help too,” Charlie told him, her voice quiet and her eyes amused.

Danny snorted when he heard Jazz still shouting upstairs. “That’s actually a relief to hear. I’m going to go talk to my sister before she tears her hair out.” He stepped back from Charlie and went up the stairs, feeling her eyes on him the entire way.

Despite the odd feeling around her, Danny liked her. She seemed nice.

 

When he returned to the living room, Jazz had apparently given up on demanding answers for the moment.

She had her arms crossed over her chest, one of her feet tapping against the floor. With her eyes narrowed the way they were, Danny could tell he was in for her biggest scolding ever. “Danny,” she seemed to be working very hard to keep her voice level and Danny could hear an echo of Tucker muttering, ‘ _Danger, danger’_.

“Jazz,” he greeted her, smiling as big as he could. “How’re you doing?”

Jazz stood up straight and marched over to him, jabbing her finger into his chest. “Listen, buster, I just drove over here because mom and dad said that you would probably be here,” she jabbed again. “They didn’t really explain anything, I haven’t been able to get ahold of you with phone calls, and I remember when Vlad wasn’t exactly the best and most social man in the world!” with another jab, Jazz leaned back and tossed her hands into the air. “And when I finally get here, not only is Vlad the one answering the door and saying hello like we’ve been friends for ages, but there are children that are very clearly a mixture of the both of you!”

Danny winced, reaching out to grab Jazz’s shoulders, as if he were trying to anchor her back down. “Jazz, please don’t yell with the kids in the room.” He glanced at Vlad. “They’ve been through some stuff today that makes them scared and we don’t like it when they’re scared.”

He turned and allowed Dawyn to shove his face into Danny’s stomach. “They’re just kids, Jazz,” he met her eyes and rested his hands on Dawyn’s head, petting soothingly at his hair. “There’s some stuff that has been happening and this isn’t the best time—”

“Danny, I don’t know what time will be better,” Jazz crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes in a frustrated glare. “There is no time like the present.”

“Please, Jazz, just trust me on this.” Danny arranged his face into a pleading expression, trying to get his point across without alerting the kids to the panic in the air. They’d been through enough, whatever had happened to knock Wilson unconscious and make him bleed had been more than enough trauma for the five of them. Off to the side, Vlad was nodding intently and making agreeing noises whenever Dana said something in her broken language, but his eyes were on Danny.

There was an intensity in them that made Danny almost shiver, a protectiveness that he could feel, and he knew.

If he needed it, Vlad would protect Danny even from his sister.

Jazz groaned and rounded on him again, visibly trying to keep her cool as she took a deep breath. “Danny, just…I thought you were done keeping secrets when you told mom and dad about the whole ‘half ghost’ thing. You were miserable when you kept secrets and you know it.” She sighed. “Please just don’t go back to that – You’re my little brother, and as frustrating as you are, you will always be my little brother.”

Behind her, Danny saw Walker moving up the stairs in a way that seemed to be trying not to draw attention to himself. “Something’s happening,” he said again. “You remember Pariah Dark, right?”

“Oh god,” Jazz’s face went pale. “That’s what is happening?”

“Sort of,” Vlad spoke up. “He has children. As far as we know, he hasn’t been released yet, but his children are definitely up and about.” He glanced at Danny again. “Wilson, a friend of my family, my uncle’s partner, was attacked by one of them. They are just as nasty and vicious as their father.”

“And you already know two of them,” Danny added. “The Shadow that used to follow Johnny Thirteen and Kitty around is one of them.”

“Who’s the other?”

“Penelope Spectra,” Danny watched as his sister’s face went white, first with panicked eyes. After a second, though, her hands clenched into fists and her cheeks went red with a rage he’d never really seen her go through. The only thing that had come close was when she’d found out that her boyfriend in her first year of college had been cheating on her with three other people. “She’s…She’s back, Jazz. Turns out they’re all related and there’s a power boost when they’re working together.”

Jazz nodded. “You’re right,” she told him.

“About what?”

“Explanations about the children can wait.” She turned to Vlad, her anger fading into confusion when she saw the white-knuckled grip he had on his own shirt. “…Mister Masters, what did she do to you?”

“That is a story,” Vlad choked on the words a little. “Best saved for another time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are happening. I hope, if anyone is reading this, that it's interesting. We've finally reached the parts I have been planning for a long time.
> 
> Danny and Vlad are still slow burning because Vlad needs to get his mental issues squared away before romance happens.


	3. Wait For The Disaster To Strike

With the arrival of Danny’s sister, Danielle could safely say that about ninety-eight percent of her family was in one house.

If Danny’s parents had been there, she could have said that all of it was.

She still didn’t quite know what to make of what was essentially her aunt, but she knew that the woman deeply cared for her brother. Danny had complained about it a couple of times, pretending that he was annoyed when she reminded him to put his homework in his backpack or brought him food and medical supplies when he needed them.

Jasmine Fenton had been one of the reasons Danny had actually managed to graduate high school.

At least, according to Danny.

He looked up to his sister, even when she got so wrapped up in her analysis that she forgot to look at any other explanation for the problem. Sometimes her psychoanalyzing would piss Danny off, but he always bounced back to being glad that she actually bothered to look after him.

Danielle smiled, pacing across the porch to the front stairs. Off in the distance, she could see the rest of the city.

Her humor died a quick and painless death when she looked.

Here, in Vlad’s neighborhood, everything was absolutely still and silent. None of his neighbors dared to move – or maybe they couldn’t. The sky above looked bloodied and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Out in the distance, the rest of the city ground to a halt as well, something making the air heavy and too thick to actually draw a full breath.

Inside, she could hear Dan and the rest of the kids.

It worried her that they were out of the safe room, but nothing like that happened without a good reason. If they were out, then there was a reason for it and she could trust that it was probably a _really_ good one. Dan would keep them safe – despite doubts that he would be good at it, he had actually stepped into the role of big brother with ease.

He would probably deny it until the day he Faded, but he seemed to like having siblings.

Danielle stood up a little straighter, watching with panic in her eyes as a darkness rippled around the city. Amity Park had gone through attacks before, she knew, it had survived some of the worst nightmares to come out of the Ghost Zone, but that was when they had been prepared in some way. The Fenton family were the defenders – they put up the ghost shields and got the townspeople behind them. She’d checked her phone earlier, only to find that there was no signal.

No way to give an advanced warning.

With a tightness in her throat, Danielle took as deep a breath as she could manage. One way or another, this would be over soon and if she had to, she would go down defending her family.

These people were her family.

It was still a startling realization, but Vlad had actually started behaving like a father and then Danny had followed along. She had two parents and she had siblings and sure, she and Dan fought sometimes but it was always minor arguments and mostly just trying to get on each other’s nerves. He was her big brother. Like Jazz and Danny, they were siblings.

That was a nice feeling.

Well, she thought as she stood up a little straighter. Might as well be the earliest possible warning system her family could have.

 

X

 

Walker stepped out onto the porch and looked around.

The basement had been too crowded and the worry in Masters’ voice had been enough for his own nerves to unsettle. He needed to do _something_ and the best he could come up with was going to see what was happening outside.

The female Halfa was on the porch when he arrived.

“It’s Danielle, right?” he asked her, taking a moment to study her face. She had Plasmius’ nose and Danny’s coloring, the same pointed chin Vlad had. “You’re the third Halfa.”

“Yeah,” Danielle turned to look at him. “You’re Walker. You run the prison. Is everything okay?”

“I just…” Walker shook his head. “I couldn’t stay down there anymore. I needed to see what destruction was being wrought. Felt too useless and too crowded in – You’re right, I run the prison. I’m used to knowing what rules to follow and what actions to take and right now, I feel useless.” He looked out towards the city, seeing something billowing around the buildings. “Other than that, everything is mostly okay. William and Wilson are both unconscious.”

“What? Why?!”

“Wilson was attacked by one of the royal siblings,” Walker turned back to her. “William fainted when he saw his niece.”

“Oh,” Danielle let out a relieved sigh. “Okay.”

“…Okay?”

“I’m assuming,” she grinned. “That if the sibling were still a problem, we’d know about it and you wouldn’t be sitting here calmly talking to me. Unless you’re weird and don’t know when things are an emergency, which – you run the _prison._ I’ve heard stories from Danny. You deal with riots and breakouts and inmate fighting.” She leaned on the porch railing. “I’m assuming you know when things are serious.”

Walker laughed a little, leaning on the railing as well. “That I do,” he nodded. “So, from what I hear, you’re one of the ones who helped Pointdexter.”

“Do stories like that circulate in the Ghost Zone?” Danielle raised an eyebrow.

“They do when it’s the story of someone with a living connection to the world of the living helping a ghost,” Walker shrugged. “We tend to find hope in stories like that.”

Danielle laughed this time, a smile on her face for only a few moments before she stood up straight and grabbed his shirt, dragging him behind her and throwing up a shield. Her arm shook as whatever it was she’d seen impacted with the shield, her entire body tense. “I need you to do something,” she turned her head to look at him. “Now.”

“What is it?”

“Upstairs, in Danny’s room,” she grit her teeth and clenched her fist, her shield growing brighter. “There’s the Fright Knight’s sword. You have to go hide it – we brought it here to keep it out of Rewind’s hands when he was the threat we were dealing with.” She brought her other hand forward, adding more power to her shield and making it reverberate, sending the debris that was smashing against it flying. “Third door on the right, _hurry!”_

Turning on his heel, Walker ran through the wall and into the living room.

A young woman with bright red hair and narrowed blue eyes was lecturing Danny about something – the color of her hair almost made Walker pause until he saw the color of her eyes. He remembered something about a sister, Danny’s mother having red hair.

He kept moving.

The stairs were no trouble at all and he practically flew up them, trying to keep a calm outside to what he was doing so as not to worry the children he could see in the room. They’d been there when Wilson had been attacked, they needed some time to have some quiet and be safe.

Once he was out of sight of them, however, he moved as fast as he possibly could, throwing himself down the hall.

Walker phased into Danny’s room and dropped onto his feet.

The room was quiet, filled with a surprising amount of interesting objects, and fairly clean. Behind a desk in the corner, he could sense the Fright Knight’s sword.

This was the thing that had filled so much of the Ghost Zone with terror – had made so many ghosts seek refuge with him, for a while. The idea of going back to a time that could be called the dark ages had made so many afraid. Though the dark ages had only been known as stories, rumors, myths and legends, the threat of them had been enough to scare even the most powerful ghosts.

Closing his eyes for a second, Walker let his nerves settle before he moved over to it and picked it up.

Surprisingly heavy for its size, he hefted it into his arms, being careful not to unsheathe it.

Stuck in what looked to be a concrete pumpkin, the sword oozed malice from this close. He wanted nothing to do with it, really. This was one of the most dangerous items in the entirety of the Ghost Zone. With a slow look around, Walker moved towards the wall and went intangible, sticking his head in as well to make sure the thing wouldn’t shift and fall.

Inside of the wall, everything was quiet.

It was the sort of quiet that made him want to crawl in and curl up and never leave again. He felt his head drooping and his hands going loose –

Settling the sword and pumpkin onto a stable spot, Walker yanked himself out of the wall. He fell back, onto the ground, and scrambled away. He recognized the taste in the air, the muggy warmth, and the deceptive calm. When he turned, trying to get his feet underneath him again, he found the Shadow sitting behind him.

The short-cropped red hair framed a pair of acidic green eyes, an unpleasant smile twisting his lips.

“Kravin,” Walker knew his name now, could identify him after seeing him leave the prison.

“Oh, look,” Kravin reached out and grabbed his throat, standing and dragging Walker upright. “I remember you. No no,” he chuckled when Walker tried to pull away. “Sorry, that’s not an option today.”

Clutching at his wrist with both hands, Walker kept trying anyway.

The Shadow only laughed again, pressing his thumb into the place on Walker’s throat that had once held a pulse. “Where is it?” he crooned the question out, his eyes half-closed as he sniffed the air. “I can tell when my Knight’s sword is nearby, what have you done with it?” he leaned in closer, his nose inches away from Walker’s face. “You’ve done something with it, his scent lingers on you.”

In his head, Walker felt something like a tug, a flash of memory rising up before dispersing.

That same instant, he knew.

Kravin was searching through his memories. The bastard would find out exactly what he wanted if Walker didn’t do something – if he couldn’t do something. He pushed the memory Kravin was looking for away, did his best to forget it, and tried focusing on something else.

Just about anything else.

His hands trembled, the pressure in his mind almost-painful in a way that made the skin of him burn. What could he think of, what was enough to cling to, what would keep—

Margaret.

He felt something in his chest tighten when he thought her name, his eyes burning with the buildup of tears that threatened to fall. Danny had helped him regain his memories and with them, he had gotten Margaret back.

Walker closed his eyes and threw himself into remembering her.

Margaret Walker – Maiden name Margaret Catherine Teller – had been the absolute love of his life. They’d met on a playground when she was five and he was six. She’d fallen and skinned one of her knees and he, having been drilled in politeness, went over to make sure she was okay.

At the time, she’d been Maggie, a nickname from her mother that she’d dropped as soon as she could.

He’d taken her over to his own mother, both of them with wide eyes and Maggie had refused to let any of her tears fall. She’d been tough and he’d liked her immediately. She had played with him that day and every day they went to the playground after that. Their parents had set up playdates when it had been found out that they only lived two streets apart.

And he and Margaret had become best friends, inseparable to the end.

She’d been fifteen when she mentioned a dark shadow following her, an evil force of bad luck that dogged her footsteps. He had laughed at that, thinking she was joking, and she had laughed too.

And then she had never talked about it again.

Margaret had been nineteen when they got married – Twenty when they had Johnny.

She had refused to give him a nickname unless he wanted one. If he did want one, she had said, she would help him choose one that he actually liked. Until then, they were Kenneth, Margaret, and Johnathon Walker.

(He didn’t want to ask about it, but she would sometimes flinch back if someone called her Maggie.)

A little family, but they didn’t need a big one.

At their wedding, her side of the church had comprised of a sister and a cousin and then all of her friends. The rest of her family had either not wanted to come or she hadn’t bothered to invite them. It hadn’t seemed to matter, to her, she’d looked radiant and beautiful in the wedding gown she’d spent a month making.

Margaret had become Margaret Walker in a silvery-white dress that she’d sewn herself and he’d never thought of anyone as beautiful in a wedding gown until he’d seen her walk down the aisle.

His side of the church had only had his mother and one of his father’s brothers – what little remained of his blood-related family – and then the handful of friends he had made over the years. Some of his old army buddies, the ones who had made it back alive. He hadn’t needed any others, either. All of his family was there, that day.

Margaret had a small Seamstress shop in town, was the absolute best dressmaker in all of Texas. Maybe even all of the United States. When she worked from home, Kenneth had loved watching her dance to the music on the radio, graceful steps and conducting hands. Sometimes she would put down her work for a minute and pull him into a dance, laughing the entire time.

She had been beautiful, no matter what.

Kenneth remembered trick-or-treating with a very small Johnny – His left hand in Kenneth’s, his right hand in Margaret’s, the silly little ghost costume he wore almost gleaming in the streetlights as they walked.

Those were moments he would remember forever, now that he had gotten them back.

One Christmas, Margaret and Kenneth had worked in shifts to make sure there was enough food for a feast. They’d each had to work that day but there had been enough time in between to spend the evening with Johnny and open presents.

They’d never been rich but they’d always made enough to get by. Even when times got tough and they would argue, they would still end up holding each other and telling the other that they loved them.

“I can tell what you’re doing,” Kravin’s voice hissed in his ear, dragging up the memory of a sharp pain in his head and then darkness. “You’re stalling. I can always tell when someone I’ve killed before is doing that – it makes it more fun when I finally dig the memory out of your head.”

Walker closed his eyes again, head lolling back on his shoulders as he threw himself even deeper into his memories.

Johnny had been fourteen when Margaret had died.

Kenneth and Margaret had been high school sweethearts, that had been part of why Kenneth had been alright with Kitty and Johnny winding themselves so tightly around each other. A part of him had been relieved to see that his son wouldn’t be alone in the world, that he’d found his someone before he’d grown up and moved away.

He’d had twenty-nine years with Margaret and it still hadn’t been enough.

They had started dating when she was sixteen and he’d always thought he’d grow old with her, thought he’d live with her until they were too old to move on their own. There were days that had never come, moments they’d never shared, time they’d never gotten. Margaret Walker had died before any grey had scattered through her hair, had died before wrinkles had changed her face.

Even with wrinkles, she still would have been the most beautiful woman in the world.

Kenneth had wanted to grow old with her – in a way, he supposed he had.

She’d died at thirty-four and he’d died three years later. Their lives had been almost the same length, cut too short by the _thing_ that held him now.

As he had that thought, Walker felt himself being let go.

He dropped to the floor, going intangibly through it and landing in the living room again. Danny rushed over to him, dropping down next to him with wide-eyes. “What happened?!”

“Kravin is here,” Walker managed to get the words out, his head still feeling like someone had plucked out his brain and shoved it into a blender before pouring it back into his skull. “The siblings each have a specialty,” he gasped, his entire body trembling. “But they have the same powers.”

“Thank you,” Danny stood up and looked over to Vlad.

For a moment, they seemed to have an entire silent conversation. Both Halfas nodded at the same time and Walker let himself be hefted to his feet. Danny looped one of Walker’s arms around his shoulders. “We have to get moving,” he muttered. “We can’t stay here.”

“…I brought my car?” Danny’s sister offered.

“Not safe enough,” Danny turned to look out the window. “We’ve got to get to Fentonworks, we can do a lot more from there. We need the shields up, the people of this town need to be behind them, and from there we can work out a plan.”

Walker drifted sideways, unfocused, and the last thing he was really aware of was how quiet the room went.

 

X

 

Charlie looked up at the ceiling of the lab when she heard a noise that sounded out of place.

It was the sound of a body hitting the floor.

She turned to Wolfgang and Wes, to Abigail, and she opened her mouth to ask them something, to say something out loud, but Wolfgang waved her off. “Go,” he nodded, earnest and wide-eyed. “If is not safe for them, they will need help.”

Standing, Charlie brushed her hands down her front, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress. “I’ll be back soon,” she told them.

With one last glance at William and Wilson, she opened a shadow door.

The other side of it was open where she’d heard the noise coming from – If that landed her in the middle of an active fight, so be it. She wouldn’t let these people be harmed if she could help it. These were the people that William had deemed important, the ones he’d become fond of. Even without being romantically attached to Carter, he was still one of her best friends.

She would help him in any way she could.

When she moved through the shadow, however, she found one of the Shadow siblings with Walker caught by the throat, dangling him a few feet off of the ground. With a noise like a stepped-on cat, she lashed out and threw him across the room, cushioning Walker as he fell. When he hit the ground, she was relieved to see him go intangible and continue falling.

“You should not be here,” she told the Shadow.

He pushed himself off the wall, smirking at her. “Oh, look at you, the girl who plays at being powerful.”

Charlie bared her teeth in something that might charitably be called a grin, if the beholder of it were particularly upbeat when they described it. “Oh, look, the shadow who plays at being anything of consequence,” she snapped back.

Deep inside of her chest, the part she had come to associate with Leena, she felt anger coming to a boil.

Lashing out at him, Charlie managed to make Kravin fling himself back to avoid being damaged. “Do you really think you and your family are going to succeed?” she asked him. “None of you have a right to this world.” She caught his fist in her hand easily, watching the clench of his knuckles against her palm. “This world belongs to those living in it, not a torn-apart royal court from so many centuries ago that they are all but forgotten.”

Kravin snarled and pushed her back, striking at her again and again.

Charlie only laughed, hollow peals that felt almost good in her throat. Leena, as good as she was, as different from her family as she was, had still been raised by them. Their behavior had been her model and as much as she tried to differ, she still fell back on the emotions that had been taught to her by them.

The vicious, vengeful anger in Charlie’s chest was entirely Leena’s, furious with her brother.

One of Kravin’s attacks did knock her down, however, and Charlie was thrown back as the entire room shifted. He’d cracked the floor, sending the massive fracture spreading up the walls and shaking the entire building. Charlie hit the floor and it was only because he’d landed closer to it that he saw the object in the wall first.

“ _Oh,_ ” Kravin laughed, pulling himself back up, on his knees as he reached for the pumpkin and the sword that had been revealed by the break. “That’s what he was doing when I found him?” he laughed again, cradling it in his arms. When he looked at Charlie, she knew something had gone wrong.

He pulled the blade from the pumpkin and his grin grew even wider.

 

X

 

Danny looked up towards the stairs as the entire house shook.

“Okay,” he turned back to the others, focusing on Vlad. “How many can you take with you while teleporting?”

“I can take Dana and Damien,” Vlad immediately turned his attention to Danny. “I am good, but I cannot take more than that.” He picked Dana up and held her close, looking up as Damien flew closer and landed on his sister’s shoulder. “I’ve never been good at bringing someone with me.”

“Lucky for us, I am,” Dan rolled his eyes. “I can take the boys.”

Danny nodded, then turned when a hand landed on his shoulder. “Danielle,” he greeted her. “What’s happening outside?”

“The city is being overrun by misery and shadows,” Danielle reached over and took Walker from him, settling his arm over her shoulder. “The sky looks like blood – it doesn’t look good, really. We have to do something. Part of the house tore apart, too, so something is happening upstairs.”

“I never thought I would be so glad my friends were out of town – Okay,” Danny nodded, taking a deep breath and ignoring the fear starting to take root inside of his chest. “Vlad, Dan,” he waited until they were both paying attention to him. “I need you two to take the kids somewhere safe.” He turned to his sister. “I can explain them later, please just let me make sure there’s a later first.”

“Clockwork’s tower,” Dan offered up, getting the three boys together. “I can teleport into the Ghost Zone, just outside Vlad’s portal, and we can meet up there.”

“Good,” Danny turned back to Danielle. “You need to get Walker to his prison, put his guards on alert. From there, we can get everyone to a safer place, if such a thing is possible.” He turned to Jazz again. “You need to get to Fentonworks. It’s going to suck, but you’re going to have to walk – driving is too dangerous when the entire city is under attack. The car could get flipped and I don’t want you to be hurt.” He took a deep breath again, forcing back his panic. “Go the back ways, take as many shortcuts as possible. Get mom and dad to put the shield up and start bringing people behind it. Once you’ve got that done, get down to the lab and get the Specter Speeder.”

He caught sight of Vlad making a worried face at the stairs, probably wondering about how much damage had been done to his house. If it had been a better situation, Danny would have laughed about it and possibly hugged the man.

“Why?” Jazz made a face. “Danny, what is that for? You just said that driving wasn’t going to be safe.”

“We’re going to be driving it through the Ghost Zone.” Danny glanced at Vlad. “I’m not the best at teleporting people either, and we have a group in the lab who will need to be transported safely. Two of them are unconscious and we need some way to make sure they can get out of here – I can get them through the portal, intangibly, but two unconscious people makes for a hard trip.”

“Once I’ve got Walker to the prison, should I head to Clockwork’s tower?” Danielle asked, her hands faintly glowing and showing the same anxiety that Danny was feeling. “How do I find it?”

“If I get there first, I can go out and wait for the rest,” Dan offered. “Find me, both of you. There is something I have to do before going there, but it will still take me less time and I will still be there before anyone else will be. Danny has to wait with the group that can’t travel as ghosts, so I can use that time to contact a few others.”

Danny nodded. “Okay, good,” he turned back when Jazz put a hand on his shoulder.

“Be careful, okay?” her eyes were wide and she looked more afraid than he had ever seen her. “I don’t want to go to your funeral before I am fifty.” She hugged him tightly, then turned and headed for the back door of the mansion.

“Thanks, Jazz,” Danny whispered, heading for the basement. The others followed, Danielle and Walker leaving first.

With a twin set of snap-pop noises, Vlad and Dan were gone with the children.

And Danny was left.

“Charlie has been gone for too long,” Wolfgang’s voice was nervous. “There was sound of fighting, earlier, we heard noises of fighting.”

Abigail looked up at him, her grey eyes wide as she nodded. “She went off to go help, she said she would be back soon.” Her small hands twisted together in front of her, an entirely too-adult motion that made Danny quietly angry at how events had unfolded for her. “What is happening?”

“We’re evacuating the house,” Danny crouched down so he was on her level. “Your nephew is taking our children to a safe place, which is where we’re also going – Once I get Charlie down here. We’re not going to leave here without her.” He looked up at Wolfgang and Wes. “Can you two get William and Wilson onto stretchers or something? We’re going through the portal and we have a ways to go before we get to where we’re headed.”

Wolfgang nodded and Wes gave a small salute, two fingers brushing against his temple.

“Alright, Abigail?”

“Yes?”

Danny looked back at her. “I’m going to trust that you know what in here could probably be useful,” he told her. “I need you to gather some supplies and bring them with us. Vlad has a map, somewhere in here, of the Ghost Zone. We’re also going to need anything we could possibly use as defense – He’s organized and he keeps the plans for his inventions with the inventions themselves, so everything has a label and a description. Be careful, but poke around and see what you can find.”

Abigail nodded. “Go get Charlie,” she told him, her little face solemn.

Running back towards the stairs, Danny launched himself off the ground once he’d gotten enough speed built up, phasing through the ceiling and into his own room in the house.

Immediately, he ducked down behind his desk, taking in the situation.

Charlie was on the ground, her hair undone from the neat twist it had been in earlier, her eyes closed but her chest rising in slow, measured movements. Just unconscious, Danny realized, looking at the other half of the room. A spike of terror had him leaning even closer to the wall.

The Fright Knight.

With heavy steps, the Fright Knight turned towards the desk, sword raised and eyes gleaming viciously in the darkness of his helmet.

“Stop,” a voice ordered, the last person in the room stepping into view. From the red hair and the bright green eyes, Danny was going to guess that he was one of Spectra’s brothers. “Come on out, ghost child.” He put a hand on the Fright Knight’s arm, smirking. “You may as well come out and face me.”

Raising his hands, Danny stood up behind the desk, watching the both of them.

“Oh?” the Shadow, Danny didn’t know which one, raised an eyebrow. “Not precisely a child, then. Are you to be humanity’s defense, then?” he looked at the Fright Knight as he put an arm in front of the Shadow. “Is something the matter, Braetheon?” he turned back to Danny. “Braetheon is wonderfully protective of me,” he smiled at the knight. “Such loyalty.”

“Of course,” Danny nodded. “A knight of the court.”

“Even beyond that,” the Shadow met Danny’s eyes. “I am Prince Kravin of the royal court, second-born son of Pariah Dark. Braetheon is loyal to my father, yes, this much is true,” his hand trailed down the Fright Knight’s armor, his body following the motion until his front was pressed against the knight. “But he is far more loyal to me.”

“What, the Fright Knight looking for a new employer?” Danny dropped his hands to his sides, forming the ice gauntlets he’d been favoring lately – they’d worked really well when he’d had to fight Spectra to get Dana back.

“Hardly,” Kravin chuckled, reaching both of his hands up and rubbing his thumbs over the knight’s helmet, cradling it between his hands. “You call him the Fright Knight.” He chuckled again, slipping out of the almost-embrace they had been in, going to stand behind him. “The Knight of Shadows, the Knight of Terror, He Who Rides on Nightmares – those are the titles he earned in our court.”

Unlike the last time Danny had faced off against the Fright Knight, he wasn’t just wearing basic armor and using a simple sword anymore.

As if Kravin summoning him had given him extra power, his sword was etched with screaming faces and eyes. His armor was patterned in deep purple and black, with green highlights here and there, only made more menacing by the fact that he was at least a foot taller than he had been when Danny had fought him last.

Green-tinted smoke furled out of his helmet when the knight growled.

“A loyal bond is useful – my father certainly thinks that it is the only useful bond,” Kravin smiled. “But my knight is both loyal to me and,” he looked up at him with an expression that Danny had seen in the mirror a couple of times when he thought about Vlad. “lovely in a way my father would forbid.”

“Does it go both ways?” Danny looked between them, both eyebrows raised.

“ _Yes_ ,” the Fright Knight hissed out, more smoke coming out of his helmet. “My prince is the one I would protect over all else.”

“Good to know.”

Danny launched himself over the desk and caught hold of the Fright Knight’s sword arm, freezing himself to it briefly so that he couldn’t be shaken off. When he got in the right position, he levered himself up and threw himself, feet first, into Kravin’s face, knocking the prince back and onto the ground. Danny tossed a layer of ice over him so that he stuck, then scrambled over to Charlie and wrapped his arms around her, dropping them both through the floor by going intangible.

Once back in the basement, he hurried back towards the portal. “Okay, everyone ready? We kind of need to go now,” he glanced up when he heard an angry, snarled scream that shook the house. “I may have pissed someone off.”

Abigail held up a duffel bag of things. “I found what I could,” she told him, matching his speed as he moved. “Wolfgang has both my uncle and Wilson safe and he is going to carry both of them.”

“Good,” Danny shifted Charlie so that she was resting in a more comfortable position, then reached down to take Abigail’s hand. “You grab Wes,” he told her, then looked at the mime. “Can you grab Wolfgang’s hand?”

Wes nodded, taking Abigail’s other hand and putting his free one on Wolfgang’s bicep before sliding it down to tangle their fingers together. True to what Abigail had said, Wolfgang had a man over each shoulder. “Am strongest man in world,” Wolfgang grinned and told Danny. “We are ready?”

“We’re ready.” Danny looked back and nodded, turning all of them intangible through his connection to them and dragging the group through the portal.

 

X

 

The first thing Vlad heard on the other side of the portal was, “We need to work on your teleportation skill.”

“It is not like I wish to remain limited in it,” Vlad turned and frowned at Dan. “It is simply that I have not had much reason to practice. No people to practice with. No…No people who would need it,” he finished awkwardly. The words that had wanted to come out said too much about how alone he still felt, despite there being more voices in his mansion these days.

“I managed to master it within two years,” Dan rolled his eyes and herded the boys ahead of him, keeping a close eye on all three of them, glancing over to see Dana and Damien before he returned to watching the others.

Vlad scoffed. “Aren’t you made of our ghost halves – the best and most powerful parts of us?” he readjusted Dana so that she could hide her face in his shoulder, her small hands clutching the front of his shirt. “It is unfair to hold me to a standard achieved by someone who is literally made entirely out of the halves that could do such a thing without strain.”

“…You’ve got a point,” Dan waved him closer. “Come on, we need to head to a shortcut I know of if we want to make everything run on time.”

“A shortcut?”

Dan grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, keeping a hand on the boys as well. The tug of teleportation made Vlad a little dizzy, but he stayed upright when the arrived. “A tactic I learned in my timeline,” he explained, his voice distracted sounding. “If you are running from something, mask your steps. We could have gotten here in a handful of minutes, but it might be easier if we do not leave a trace of having traveled.”

“…I still do not know how you came about,” Vlad said after a minute of moving in silence. “Daniel has never explained.”

With an almost-glare, Dan shook his head. “We can talk about that later,” he growled the words out. For all that he was tame, in some respects, he still scared Vlad. This was technically his oldest child, his son, but the creature in front of him was still someone that terrified him.

Even when, like today, he seemed more human than not.

“You won’t like where we’re going,” Dan said after a couple more minutes. “Your core is fire – I’ve seen the fireplaces you keep in your house. Big enough to sit in.” he glanced at Vlad. “You weirdo.”

Vlad could only defend himself with, “Fire is nice.”

“But we’re going to a place made of ice,” Dan shook his head, waving off questions. “Do you know who Frostbite is?”

“I vaguely recall.”

“Good. Living with him is a werewolf,” Dan shook his head and took a slow, deep breath through his nose. “Named Wulf.”

“Oh, Daniel did tell me about that one. A werewolf living in the Arctic.” Frowning, Vlad studied Dan’s profile. “Why do you need Wulf? What are his powers?”

“Wulf can create portals,” Dan’s voice was quiet. “In and out of the Ghost Zone.”

“What use is that right now? We’re already in—” Vlad reared back, eyes wide. With one hand, he covered Dana’s ear, hoping the girl would stay mostly asleep like she was. “You’re planning on leaving, aren’t you?”

“It’s not—Ugh,” Dan clenched his hands into tight fists, shaking his head. “There are people I have…Grown fond of. Still in the human world. They’ll be stuck there if I do not do something and bring them here – I cannot watch as more people I am fond of are destroyed, not if I can help it. The Writer, the Bookkeeper, Sidney Pointdexter, Freddy Bellgard. I am going into the human world to retrieve them, whether you like it or not.” His knuckles were pale and his jaw was clenched tight.

Hesitating for a second, Vlad reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “They’ll be alright,” he told him. “You’re going to get them here, so they’ll be alright.”

Dan’s eyes, still the same ghostly red instead of a warm brown like when he’d been fully human for a time, snapped open and stared at Vlad. Instead of responding, he simply nodded, then moved to a spot that seemed no different from the rest around it. “Over here,” he told Vlad.

“Over here?”

“A shortcut,” Dan grabbed his free hand and pulled him through, the boys following quietly. “One you would not have been able to find if I had not been here. Once we are done dealing with this, we are going to Clockwork’s tower.”

“Why all this fuss about his tower?”

“Because it was designed and built by his teacher,” Dan sighed. “It was around the last time Pariah Dark was on the loose and being a monarch.”

“Tested and still standing,” Vlad nodded. “Understandable.”

“Also part of why it’s so damned hard to find,” Dan muttered. “Keep moving to avoid being found.”

When they came out of the tunnel that formed the shortcut, Vlad shrunk back as the tip of a spear came to a stop only a few inches from his nose. A small army of wolf-bear-looking ghosts stood in front of them, all armed to the teeth, including some very sharp teeth. Dan, when Vlad looked at him, simply stood and looked impassive.

“Halt!” one of the ghosts said, raising a fist that could have easily wrapped around Vlad’s waist. “It is the Odd One!”

“…Odd One?” Vlad questioned.

“Me,” Dan answered. “Is Frostbite here?” he asked the ghosts. With a nod at the brambles that lined the icy land, he grinned. “It seems Undergrowth is here already. We need to speak with Frostbite – And with Wulf.”

“I am here,” a booming voice called from the back of the warriors.

In his arms, Dana woke up and looked around, her eyes big and startled. However panicked Vlad was about being back here, however worried he was that they would not get help and would, instead, be attacked, he pushed it aside when he saw his daughter with wet eyes. When the guards cleared a path and Frostbite marched up to them, grinning in a decidedly angry way with the sharpest teeth of all, Dana took one look at him and burst into tears.

“Shh,” Vlad tried to soothe her, bouncing her gently in his arms. “Shh, shh, it’s okay,” he pressed a hand against her forehead, frowning when he found that her skin was chilled. “It’s okay,” he insisted, turning from Frostbite and smiling at his daughter.

Dana hiccupped through her tears and shoved her face into his shoulder, gripping his shirt as tightly as she could manage.

“Oh,” Frostbite shuffled awkwardly, his smile losing some of the sharpness. “She looks like Danny – Is she his child?” he crouched down slowly, apparently doing his best to make himself less imposing. “I did not mean to make her cry,” he reached out a furry paw-shaped-hand and held it out to her. “Hello, little one.”

When Vlad looked over at Dan, he saw that the three boys had clustered behind him, shielded even further by him crossing his arms over his chest. Damien, hard to hear even in the best of circumstances, was making shrill noises at those clustered around his siblings, flying in circles around Vlad and Dana. Some of the guards, looking chastised and almost ashamed, stepped even further back. “Dana,” he bounced her gently a couple of times, waiting until she looked at him. “This is Frostbite,” he introduced.

“Fros?” Dana’s mouth opened, her needlelike fangs glinting a little in the light of the Ghost Zone. Her eyes were back to being watery only in the normal way, like they were melting, her small cheeks still stained with tears.

“Frostbite,” Vlad repeated. “A friend of Daniel’s.”

“Da!” Dana squeaked out her version of her other parent’s name, the sad quiver of her bottom lip turning into a smile. She turned back to Frostbite, almost shy, and reached for his hand with both of hers. In comparison, her hands were only about the size of his thumbnail. “Fren.” She nodded, absolutely certain of herself once things had been explained.

“She is precious,” Frostbite whispered, watching with adoring eyes as Dana ruffled the fur on his hand. He turned to look at Dan. “Odd One,” he nodded. “What is it that you need?”

“To alert those who could help,” Dan said, almost dutifully, still shielding his brothers from the guards. “Undergrowth is here and we could use his help. You are here and we could use your help. All of the others, those whose powers stretch back through time and are tied to a teacher.”

Frostbite frowned. “What, exactly, is the threat?”

“Pariah Dark,” Dan swallowed.

“The Great One has beaten him before,” Frostbite shook his head. “Surely he can do it again?”

“It is not that easy,” Dan closed his eyes, looking for a moment like he might haul off and lash out at Frostbite. “Because of course, nothing about this is easy, it will not be that easy.”

“Pariah Dark has children,” Vlad hastily added before Dan’s temper could flare. “And they are loose. All of them. Spectra already threatened Dana,” he gently jiggled his daughter. “And her brothers have threatened others for ages. Now, all three of the siblings are loose.”

Frostbite stood up slowly, still letting Dana play with his hand. “That is a much more serious matter,” he said, his voice subdued with a tinge of fear.

“It really is,” Dan growled the words out, taking Dawyn’s hand in his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to anyone reading my really self-indulgent AU! Glad you're here!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Caring For Folk

Having a little brother who was a hero from the time he was fourteen had always been stressful.

Jazz ducked behind a fence as a shadow moved past her, gleaming green eyes visible in the head-shaped part of it. She didn’t mean that in a, ‘ _What about me?’_ sort of way, never had and never would. The way she meant it was more of the, ‘ _But what if he gets trapped somewhere and never comes home?’_ sort of way.

The, ‘ _This is literally going to kill him and there’s nothing I can do to help him’_ sort of way.

For her, her worry had always been that he would be lost, scared and alone and a child warrior, a fighter of some unknown battle. A missing persons case that would never be solved in a million years because he just happened to be on the wrong side of a rift when it closed. With the sky above her head a bloody red color, Jazz thought that her worries were closer to the truth of things than she was comfortable with.

Danny had always dreamed about being an astronaut when he was a kid, had always wanted to explore new things and be the one making discoveries about the world.

When he had become a Halfa, new domains and discoveries had opened up to him and Jazz had, when she’d found out, panicked about him getting lost. Slipping away into a portal and never returning because he’d sacrificed himself for the sake of humanity, his body lost among the stars he had always loved. With some things, her fears for her little brother were valid – Ancient ghosts that were summoned by an insane, older person who was the same species as her brother, for example. She would never let Vlad off the hook for that, no matter how forgiving of him Danny seemed to be.

Like the situation currently happening.

But when Danny had been fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, he had never focused on the things a teenager was supposed to focus on. Girls, school, homework, boys, parties – none of it had even seemed to rate on her brother’s scale. At fourteen, he’d still had hopes of a normal life and he’d actually made an effort to have one. After that, an entire year of powers and chaos and fighting and keeping everyone but himself safe, Danny had seemed to give up on anything but being a hero.

His dedication to it had both impressed her and terrified her.

Jazz had only been able to shift his death-wish-like state of mind when she’d put him in touch with a classmate of hers. Christine Yannak had been, at the time of sending Danny to her, only a psychiatry student. She’d been in a class that Jazz had been attending to take notes, to see if it was the type of thing she wanted to do.

She hadn’t, in the end, but she’d made a friend out of Yannak.

Danny today was fairly level-headed and rational, thinking around the problem instead of automatically assuming that self-sacrifice was the only solution.

And she would gladly walk a thousand miles if it meant he stuck to the state of mind.

After what seemed like an eternity, Fentonworks’ sign glowed in the distance. Glancing around, Jazz made a beeline for it, walking as fast as she could without running. The key to things like this, she had discovered a long time ago, was not letting yourself be seen as out of place.

Move like you were supposed to be there.

Like nothing was wrong.

Once inside the door, she slammed it shut behind her. “Mom, dad!” she called out, running down the stairs into the lab. “I need to talk to you!”

“Jazzy-pants?” Jazz could have cried when she heard her father’s voice greeting her. “What’s wrong?”

“Okay, so, the entire city is currently under threat,” Jazz turned the corner at the bottom of the steps and stopped. In front of her, the portal was _pulsing_ , her parents standing a good ways back from it. “We need to get the ghost shield up and running and get everyone inside of it.” She moved closer. “What’s happening with the portal?”

“A power fluctuation like we’ve never seen before,” her mom turned to look at her. “Jazz, what’s happening upstairs?”

“Well,” Jazz made a face, trying to figure out the best way to break the news. “You remember the Ghost King, right?” she swallowed, suddenly nervous, as she watched her mother bolt for the shield controls. “He’s back. And this time, he apparently has people helping him – apparently, he’s got kids. Who’ve got powers like his.” Jazz took a deep breath. “And they’re currently threatening everyone. Two of them have attacked Danny before, back before…”

Jack and Maddie Fenton both winced, they knew what the rest of that sentence was.

‘ _Back before he decided he could tell you what he became as a result of your experiment.’_ Or maybe even, ‘ _Back before he told you, back when you were just another threat to his life’._

It would probably be years before their parents would stop feeling guilty over what they had said to their son. If she were being honest with herself, Jazz would admit that a part of her, deep down and bitter, angry and uncontrolled, was satisfied with that fact. They had seen a new development, a ghost defending humans, and immediately called for his destruction and dissection.

They had threatened to do it themselves.

With everything else they pulled – frequently paying more attention to their experiments than their children, fighting over Christmas ever year, ignoring everything in favor of their research – Jazz had to admit that she still hadn’t forgiven them for what they’d done to Danny.

She still couldn’t forgive them for it.

They’d ignored bloodstained clothes and bandages and missing school days. All it took for Danny to be off the hook for skipped classes was usually a phone call excusing it as a family matter, mostly because they either didn’t remember what had happened or they didn’t have the time to actually look into it.

In recent years, they’d gotten better, but Jazz was still angry, even if Danny had forgiven them.

“Do we know which ones they are?” Jack finally added himself back to the conversation. “Or are they just ones Danny’s run into?”

“One of them tried to kill me, once,” Jazz shrugged, looking around the lab. “I’ve been sent with orders from Danny. You guys need to get the shield up and running, I need to get the Specter Speeder and go into the Ghost Zone to retrieve Danny and a couple other people.” She spotted it in the corner and grabbed the key off the hook on the wall. When she went to put it into the ignition, her mother’s hand on her wrist stopped her.

“Excuse me, what?” Maddie’s eyes were wide and terrified, her mouth dropped open in horror. “One of them tried to kill _you?”_

Jazz dropped into the driver’s seat and nodded. “Penelope Spectra. You guys approved Danny going to ‘therapy’ with her, but she turned out to be a ghost who created misery in people so she could drain it and stay young forever. She was using our school as a feeding ground – Her plan was to kill me so that no one would ever be peppy in school again.”

“Oh god,” Maddie put a hand to her mouth, looking horrified. “We approved that? What happened?” she looked at Jack. “Jack, what were we doing, back then? Why didn’t we know about this?”

“Mom?” Jazz sighed. “That was the day I found out about Danny. Spectra’s plan didn’t go through at the last second because Danny managed to rally himself and rescue me just in the nick of time.” She shook her head when Maddie looked about ready to cry. “The other one is a bad luck shadow that Danny complained about and you guys just brushed it off. You said there was no such thing as bad luck.”

Jack was the one to look nearly sick, this time.

Jazz reached out and took her mom’s hands in hers. “There is still a lot you need to talk to Danny about,” she told them. “There is still a lot you don’t know, a lot of stuff you did to him. Parenting is hard, but you guys took it to a maximum level of difficulty by never actually doing some stuff.”

She started up the Specter Speeder and moved it closer to the portal, pushing a button to open the door in front of her. “And you can start making it right by helping him now!” she called back to them.

With that, Jazz sped off into the Ghost Zone.

 

X

 

His siblings would be safe with Clockwork.

Dan kept repeating that to himself, trying to be convincing with it. He trusted Clockwork to the ends of the earth, just about, but he still couldn’t quite convince himself. Rewind’s attack on the tower had shaken his faith in the building.

With Frostbite, a portion of his army, Wulf, Vlad, the siblings, and a very unhappy Undergrowth in tow, Dan had taken to silently repeating it to himself, marching in time to the beat of the words. The siblings would be safe, the siblings would be safe, the siblings would be safe. If he could have, he would have kept Danielle with him, just to make sure she was safe as well.

There had been no excuse he could have given, however.

She was a Halfa, a hero just the same as Danny was, and it would be wrong to keep her from doing what she saw as her job. Danielle adored the world, the people in it, in the same way Danny did. Both of them would do whatever they could to keep everyone safe.

If he could have taken his entire family with him, he would have.

Jack and Maddie Fenton, Jazz, Danny, Danielle, Vlad, his siblings, William and Wilson, all of them. As it was, he had plans to go rescue some of the ghosts he had grown fond of through his interactions with them. Some of them, he’d only experienced through Danny’s stories.

One of them was a fondness carried over from someone else’s life, what felt like centuries ago, the one teacher who’d actually given a damn about him.

The residual thoughts of his version of Danny Phantom were, at times, inconvenient.

As were the residual thoughts of his version of Vlad Plasmius – Vlad, who’d never grown out of his obsession, in Dan’s world. The version of Vlad that had been unwilling to seek help for the problems he’d so obviously suffered from.

(He’d had Clockwork check in on his original timeline, once. His version of Vlad had survived only long enough to see the news cover a story about an asteroid hurtling towards the Earth. After that, no one had survived.)

(At the time, he’d been Too-Calm about the whole ordeal. Once he’d slipped away, Clockwork had had to spend a week searching for him.)

(He hadn’t made it easy.)

But those were the residuals he had in his head. The ghost halves of two people who, in his reality, had never really gotten along. Before Clockwork had merged their cores to make a solid and fully functioning one for Dan, it had been like the two halves of him were constantly at war with each other. That had been what had destabilized him in the first place, actually.

The residual thoughts of Danny, he could deal with those.

It was like his core being made of lightning – Once he’d dealt with it enough, he could withstand any part of it and anticipate the twists and turns before they came, eventually knowing it well enough to get out ahead and plan around what it would do.

The residual thoughts of Vlad, however, those were trickier. The man had refused any sort of help, had only ever pushed himself into obsession and overworking himself. Knowing that about him helped Dan understand himself, in some ways. Small ways, almost insignificant except for the fact that they were the reason he didn’t fully trust in Clockwork’s tower, anymore. Vlad’s unique brand of paranoia and psychosis had him wary of the place he’d managed to make a home for himself in.

Even with the proof laid out before him, the knowledge that Rewind had only gotten in because he’d lived there once, Dan still couldn’t make the shadow of Vlad in his head go quiet.

All he could do was make certain they all got to safety, that his siblings and Vlad and everyone else would be safe. His version of Vlad had earned his nickname, an underlying insanity that should have been treated, and he was trying to work past it.

All he could do was make sure they were safe.

 

When the tower loomed over them, Dan actually found it in himself to smile at the others.

“One of the safest places in the Ghost Zone,” he quipped, gesturing for his brothers to go in before him, making sure Vlad did the same. When he walked through the door, Dan cupped his hands around his mouth. “Clockwork!”

There was no answer for a minute.

“CLOCKWORK!”

“Must you shout?” Clockwork’s sardonic voice was a relief, almost music to Dan’s ears, as he appeared in the room. “Right on time, the entire group of you,” he floated over and past Dan, brushing his hand over his shoulder as he did, coming to a stop next to Vlad. “How are the children getting along?” he asked the Halfa, peering at Dana with a kindness in his eyes that Dan was happy to see.

“Of course I had to shout,” Dan grinned at him, feeling his fangs actually making an appearance. “You weren’t answering.”

For a moment, they stared at each other, an entire conversation passing between them in a few seconds of silence. “Very well,” Clockwork’s icy demeanor defrosted just a little bit, a small smile on his face. “But the children?”

Dana reached out and tugged on his cloak, pulling it down to reveal the hair he kept messily cropped, the white mass floating gently in the soft breeze that always seemed to be flowing through the tower. “Clock!” she shrieked. Damien flitted around her head, eventually landing on Clockwork’s shoulder. Chuckling, Clockwork took her hand in his own and shook it like he was greeting her.

“That’s very good, then,” he moved back towards Dan, coming to a standstill next to him. “Undergrowth,” he inclined his head for a second. “Haven’t seen you in,” he seemed to choose the phrasing of his next sentence very carefully. “Quite some time.”

When he tipped his head up, Dan could just see the edge of the scarring the Rewind had put on his throat.

“Haven’t had cause, Timekeeper.” Undergrowth’s words were snarled, a menacing edge to his tone. “Been looking for a student – Can’t remember how it goes, the finding of one. My teacher was the oldest, as you well remember. I am of your teacher’s generation, the oldest of the students sent out into the world to keep the balance.” His current form was not the one Danny had fought, Dan had been surprised to see. Instead, he had shaped himself to look mostly humanoid.

Or maybe he had just peeled away the layers of plants that formed his usual shape.

Either way, his upper lip pulled back in a sneer that had Dan wishing he could punch the plant ghost. “Not that the Observants have been letting us keep the balance.”

“And thus we come to the reason those of old do not gather often,” Clockwork muttered so that only Dan could hear. Quietly, Dan agreed with him. The ghosts who had once been students were some of the most frustrating beings he had ever come across, Clockwork very much included. With Clockwork, however, he could look past the frustration and appreciate the Timekeeper for who he was when his duty was stripped away.

When his duty was stripped away, the brief times he could just be, he was someone who could entirely belong to Dan.

And Dan was someone who could belong to him.

“If we were just allowed free reign, allowed to keep the balance,” Undergrowth began, only for Frostbite to speak up and start talking over him.

Dan tuned them out, taking Clockwork’s hand in his and pulling him away from the group, into the next room over and pressing him against the wall. “Please tell me that my actions were not useless,” he asked, eyes closed as he let his body go relaxed against Clockwork’s. With his face buried in the ghost’s neck, Dan took a deep breath, letting the scent of the stream of time rush over him, the scent that he always associated with Clockwork. “That in bringing them here, I actually did something of use.”

“You have,” Clockwork reached up to run gloved fingers through his hair, one hand curling possessively around Dan’s hip. “There is much use in having them here – They are the best allies once things have started.”

Dan growled, turning so that he could nip at the Timekeeper’s neck. “That sounds like, ‘They’re useful once they actually get together and stop arguing’ and I don’t like that.” He managed, through no small feat of willpower, to pull away from Clockwork and step back. “I only came to drop them off and say hello to you. I need to go retrieve some others from the world of the living.”

“They will be safe until you can get to them,” Clockwork breathed the words out, half-lidded eyes focused warmly on Dan, a full smile turning his features soft. “That is the only assurance I can give.”

“And that is enough,” Dan leaned back in and angled their faces together, pressing closed-mouth kisses over that smile until he felt Clockwork shift and kiss back. He cradled the time ghost’s face between his hands, gentler than he could ever remember being before all of this had begun. “I will return to you. One way or another, I will return to you.”

Clockwork nipped gently at the tip of his ear, soothing the point of it with a kiss. “You had better, in return for leaving me to manage this circus.”

“Never asked to be the lion tamer and yet, here you are,” Dan stepped away again. “Chair and whip in hand, corralling the misbehavers into model citizens.” He sighed. “I do wish I could just…Stay here. But cowardice has never been in my character.”

Dan moved back towards the door of the room, pausing for a second with his hand on the frame. “Don’t worry,” he told his lover. “I’ll be back to help you manage the circus. Lion tamer and monkey keeper – we always go together.” He grinned and left the room, letting the tension and anxiety roll off of his shoulders.

Seeing Clockwork always made him feel better.

When he got back to the others, Frostbite and Undergrowth were still snappishly arguing with each other. Instead of trying to get their attention, Dan went directly over to Wulf and tugged gently on his sleeve. The werewolf turn to look at him and followed when he jerked his head to the side, slashing open a portal and hopping through, holding it open until Dan followed.

Just as he’d asked, Wulf had opened the portal directly to the school – in one of the front hallways, even.

The only thing about the arrangement that hadn’t worked out was the state of the school.

Everything was covered in shadows.

 

X

 

Walker was a practically unconscious presence on her shoulder until they were within sight of the prison.

Danielle turned to watch his head suddenly loll, Walker’s eyes blinking slowly. “We there?” he slurred the words a little, but he seemed to be regaining control of his body. He’d not only been exhausted, his mind picked apart and battling a ghost that was way more powerful than him, but his actual being had been under threat.

Several times along the way, Danielle had been afraid that he was going to Fade.

“We’re getting there,” she told him. “Can you lift your head yet?”

With a pained groan, Walker managed to pull his head up and look around, his entire self trembling with effort. His head wavered, shifted from side to side like he couldn’t quite manage to keep it held still. “Sort of,” he bit the words out like they cost him too much to say.

“Hold it right there!” a voice shouted over Danielle’s next words.

Standing on the steps of the prison was a pair of Walker’s guards, both of them holding up their weapons. “Can you come help him?” she called out to them, stopping right where she was standing. “My name is Danielle Fenton, the Halfa known as Switchup. Your warden, Walker, was helping me and my family defend against a threat to our world.” She glanced at Walker again. “Please, just help him.”

The guards lowered their weapons. “A Halfa?” glancing at each other, they frowned. “We thought there were only two Halfas,” one of them said.

“Currently three,” Walker said, just barely loud enough to be heard.

At his words, the guards moved down the steps and over to them, carefully pulling Walker off Danielle’s shoulder. “I’ve been sent with word from Danny,” she told them. “I know you know who he is.”

“We do.”

“Good,” Danielle glanced up at the dark green sky above her. “Pariah Dark’s children are running around and we think that they plan on releasing their father as well. Both worlds will be under threat if that happens. Danny needs you guys to protect as many ghosts as you can. He didn’t send orders for you, he just sent them for me – We need your help.”

Walker, his eyes staying open now as he stayed upright between the two guards, nodded. “Fought against one,” he told them, his words still slightly slurred. “The Shadow…S’one of ‘em.”

Behind them, the doors to the prison slammed open and two ghosts came speeding out and down the steps, practically screeching to a halt as they made it to Walker. “Dad?” Johnny’s face was terrified. “Dad, look at me.” Kitty, at his side, was looking fairly panicked as well. “Dad, please!”

It took some effort, but Walker managed to smile at his son. “’At’s my boy,” he said quietly.

“What happened to him?” Kitty turned to Danielle.

“The Shadow that haunted you,” Danielle glanced at Walker and Johnny. “Turns out to be one of Pariah Dark’s sons. His children are apparently trying to restart their monarchy of the Ghost Zone. The Shadow, his name is Kravin, he attacked Walker and dug through his memories. I don’t know the whole story, he wasn’t able to tell me on the way here, but the Fright Knight’s sword was in the room Walker was attacked in, so I think he’s been unleashed as well.”

Gasping, Kitty covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide. “That’s not good,” she looked at Johnny, who had a hand on his father’s shoulder and was looking at them. “Has Pariah Dark been let out yet?”

“Not yet,” Danielle put on a smile she didn’t actually feel. “We’d know if Pariah Dark was active, I think.”

Johnny nodded. “The last time he was out, there was a lot of stuff happenin’. It was obvious that something had happened.” He reached up and took one of Kitty’s hands in his own, rubbing his thumb soothingly over the back of her hand. Around his neck, Danielle was glad to see, were the dog tags. They still looked like dog tags, he hadn’t managed to make himself forget and turn them back into the skull pendent he’d worn them as before.

Kitty nodded, tucking the fingers of her free hand into Johnny’s pocket, tugging him closer. “What else is happenin’?” she asked, eyes wide but determined, a flash of something that might have been anger lighting them up for a second. “Out there, I mean.”

“Basically?” Danielle sighed and pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. “The end of everything, if we don’t move quickly. I actually have a favor to ask of you two.”

“Tell us.” Kitty and Johnny spoke as a unified front, hands curled together and expressions matching. They had only been running off of recovered memories for about nine months, but that time seemed to have stripped away the childish behavior they’d acted out before. Johnny was acting like a young adult instead of a teenage hellion. Kitty hadn’t even been so different – the cause of most of the relationship troubles between them had been Johnny not remembering while she had.

Danielle smiled. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dan is having trouble with some things, but he's getting better.
> 
> Jazz is still pissed off at her parents and I don't think anyone can blame her -- Danny is trying to forgive them, but she's still going to be angry over the treatment of her little brother.
> 
> Walker and his son have forged their family back together. Kitty is happy to have her partner back, as well as her father. I don't know if it was clear or not, when I wrote about them before, but Walker approved of her and his son being together.
> 
> Sorry for the late updates, guys, I've just been stumbling all over schedules lately.


	5. Find The Common Thread

The school had gone eerily silent.

Freddy had his hand twisted together with Sidney’s, keeping the smaller ghost close to him. Around them, everything was too quiet, the sort of quiet that happened when the predator was about to leap on its prey. When he peered around a corner, there were shadows over everything.

“How does it look?” Henry asked, his voice pitched so low that Freddy had to strain to hear it.

“Bad,” he turned back to look at the Ghostwriter and the Bookkeeper. “Somethin’ is happenin’ and I don’t exactly know where we’re supposed to go from here. Shadows everywhere, we might be a bit trapped.” He took a moment to collect himself, feeling Sidney’s hand clench tighter around his own. The smaller ghost was scared, he could feel that. “Sidney?”

Sidney didn’t look at him, focused on something down the hallway instead. “No…” he whispered, terrified.

Freddy glanced down the hall and spotted a woman with bright red hair and a dress he thought he remembered seeing in a history book, once. “Sidney, who’s that?” he moved away from her even as he asked, pushing Sidney behind him and feeling his boyfriend’s free hand curl around one of his shoulders, clawing into his jacket. “Sidney?”

“No, no no no,” Sidney muttered, his entire form shaking as he curled into Freddy’s back. “Please no.”

“Oh, dear little Sidney Pointdexter,” her voice echoed down the hall, her heels tapping against the tile. “Sweet, dear, _miserable_ little Sidney Pointdexter,” she cackled. “I can still feel your misery after all these years!” she pressed both of her hands to her chest. “I could feed off of you for _centuries_.”

Freddy’s anger, white-hot and sudden, ripped a indignant noise from his throat. He herded Sidney even further back, towards the two other ghosts. “You’re the one who _murdered_ him!” he shouted down the hall to her.

“Well now,” she grinned, her eyes glowing a brilliant green color that made Freddy feel sick to look at. “Aren’t you a smart one?” she drew herself up to her full height, her red-painted lips curling into a horrifying grin. “I didn’t just murder him – I talked to him until he hated everything about himself and then I walked him right off the roof!” she cackled again. “His misery still stains this school, still leaves an imprint all these years later. That should tell you how effective I was,” she moved closer, one hand trailing along the wall and leaving blackened marks like soot in her wake.

Pushing Sidney back again, Freddy felt his anger drop straight into rage. “You hurt him.” He hissed the words out, his free hand clenching into a white-knuckled fist. “You _murdered_ him.”

“And?” Spectra’s teeth were sharp and glinted dangerously in the low light of the hallway.

Shaking his hand free and shooing Sidney towards the other two, Freddy took off towards her, digging his claws into her throat and letting his anger build until it manifested in the form of an ectoplasmic blast barely held back by his other hand. “In another life,” he hissed as he pushed her backward, refusing to let her get anywhere near Sidney again. “If you hadn’t been such a selfish – IF WE’D HAD A CHOICE, A CHANCE, HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN MINE!” his words echoed throughout the entire school, the walls shaking from the force of his anger. “We could have grown up together, lived together, had a life together, grown old together!”

In his mind, he could almost see it.

He and Sidney would have graduated. They would have started out as friends, maybe stayed that way but maybe become more. Sidney would have gone on to be brilliant at whatever he set out to do, Freddy would have gone to college on a football scholarship. They would have stayed friends, possibly boyfriends, together in whatever way they were.

And Sidney would have been _brilliant._

Freddy remembered what the little nerd had been good at, in school – math, sciences, history, English. He could have gone on to do anything he wanted and Freddy would have supported him the entire way. Even if they had never been anything more than just friends, Freddy would have spent his entire life loving and supporting Sidney in whatever ways he could.

“I _loved him_ ,” Freddy snarled in her face, watching her eyes go wide as she realized she couldn’t escape his grasp. His noose floated out behind him, a reminder of the second life that had been cut far too short by her manipulations. “Right from the very start, _I loved him!”_ He slammed her against a wall, dropping down to the ground and pushing her up the wall until her delicate-looking heels were dangling off the ground. She may have the advantage when it came to power, but he had a bigger build and more righteous fury on his side.

The ectoplasmic blast in his hand grew bigger and he looked down at it, then back up at her. “And you took him away – cut his life short and decided it was fun.”

“You don’t –” she looked afraid as he lifted his hand.

“Just _shut up_ ,” Freddy glared at her. “You’re _done_ talking, now.”

He splayed his fingers and slammed his flat palm into her face, the ectoplasmic blast dispersing through her entire body.

To his satisfaction, her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp under his hand. When he pulled away from her, she dropped to the floor in a limp pile of limbs and fabric. Freddy studied her for a minute, then turned back to Sidney and the others. Sidney was looking at him with wide eyes, mouth agape as he stared.

“Uh,” Freddy grinned, suddenly sheepish. “If you want, I can stay away from you, now.”

“No,” Sidney shook his head. “No, I think you need to get back over here, right now. Right _now_.” His hands were twisted in the fabric of his shirt, something dark and strangely unafraid in his eyes. He waited until Freddy had gotten within a few feet before he pressed himself close, looking up to meet Freddy’s eyes. “…You really wanted a life with me?”

“…In any way you would have allowed me,” Freddy whispered, reaching up to cradle Sidney’s face between his hands. “Thought you were cute, sure, ain’t sayin’ you weren’t, but there was also just this…I could tell you were going to do great things and you were goin’ to be brilliant and you were going to do whatever you wanted and I just…Wanted to see how happy you were going to be. I wanted to watch you grow and thrive an’ be happy.” He shivered when Sidney’s hands reached up to clasp together behind his neck.

“I would have given _anything_ to watch you be happy,” Freddy whispered.

Sidney shuddered, taking a deep breath, then dragged Freddy down to his height, pressing their mouths together.

“As sweet as this is,” Henry’s voice was startled and when they broke the kiss to look at him, his face was bright red. “Is this really the time?” he quirked an eyebrow up, floating at Lancer’s side. “We should leave now – That was Spectra, yes? Even before a potential power increase and a wardrobe change, she was someone to be feared.”

“Yeah,” Sidney nodded, still clinging to Freddy, his hands curled tightly around the collar of his letterman’s jacket. “We should be going, now.”

“Before she wakes up,” Freddy agreed.

Like a switch had been flipped, their movements were suddenly oddly in synch, Freddy and Sidney matching each other step-for-step. “Someone else is here,” Sidney said after a minute of them walking down a hallway in a direction that was as away from Spectra as they could get.

“I was going to say the same thing,” came a deep voice that had all of them startling. In front of them stood Dan, his arms crossed over his chest. Behind him was a werewolf-looking ghost with glowing green claws. “I came to find the four of you, get you into the Ghost Zone and out of danger. Is there anyone else in the school right now?”

“Spectra,” Freddy glanced back over his shoulder. “But she’s unconscious right now.”

“… _How_ ,” Dan made a face, incredulous and almost concerned. “Never mind. We need to leave, now. Time to go. Wulf?” he turned to his companion. “Would you mind opening another portal back to Clockwork’s tower?”

The other, Wulf, nodded and extended his claws, ripping through the air like a razor through tissue paper.

“In, we haven’t got all day,” Dan waved them in, frowning at Freddy and Sidney as they went past. “I will be wanting the story of how you managed to get the better of one of the Shadow Siblings.” He snorted. “Better yet, tell Danny when we get there, he’ll want to know even more than I do.”

“I will,” Freddy grinned at him, glancing back at the school for a moment.

 

X

 

Vlad peered around at the Timekeeper’s tower, holding Dana in his lap as he kept a careful eye on the boys, Damien pressed against Dana’s chest in a little ball.

He hated feeling out of sorts.

The sudden influx of people, that he could handle – the appearance of an uncle long thought to be dead and gone, that was fine, he could deal with that. Willow and Wilson had been surprises, even more so than William, but he could handle all of that.

Within a year, however, his entire life had been turned upside down, and he did not handle that gracefully. He never had, he never would.

Jack could attest to that, he thought, curling Dana a little closer to try and calm her down. They had been in college together, roommates, best friends for what had felt like forever. Jack had seen him go through serious breakdowns a couple of times. Finals had always thrown him, though that was scheduled differences and chaos.

Within a year, he had gained five children, repaired his relationship with the sixth, and found out about the seventh. Within a year, he’d switched to fighting at Daniel’s side. He’d found out about the younger Halfa supposedly being in love with him, he’d fought to protect his youngest daughter, he’d gotten himself into therapy after a lifetime of avoiding doctors whenever possible, and he’d allowed people to move into what had previously been his private space – _all within a year._

It was almost too much.

“She,” a voice curled down and around him, almost like a vine wrapping around an unsuspecting prey animal. “Is adorable.”

One of the other ghosts had finally broken off from the argument and had come over to him, sliding down the wall and sitting next to him. From the color scheme, he seemed to be the one that controlled plants – Vlad had been paying more attention to Dana than to introductions. At the time it had happened, one of the ice warriors had frightened her again, this time with their claws.

“Yes she is,” Vlad put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her in even closer, her chubby cheek pressed against his shoulder. It seemed to work, he realized when she grabbed a handful of his shirt in her little fist, her other hand wrapped around Damien to keep him from being squished. He turned to the side, both eyebrows raised, looking over the top of his glasses at the ghost. “And you are?”

“Undergrowth,” the ghost extended a hand, a smug smile on his face.

“Charmed, I’m sure,” Vlad didn’t reach to take his hand. “I do believe you’re the one who gave Daniel so much trouble, some years ago. Possessed a number of people in town, including one of his best friends.” He watched as Undergrowth recoiled from him, slightly, and felt oddly proud of making the ghost who seemed to be trying to intimidate his way into close proximity back off. “I also believe they are both still angry about that.”

Before Undergrowth could make any comment in response to that, the entire tower shook like something had rammed into it at high speed.

At the edge of his awareness, Vlad could feel Daniel’s energy signature coming closer, could hear the younger Halfa shouting something. A part of him was relieved that he was alright, that he was still able to be that loud. Another part of him reared back in horror when Daniel and Jasmine came sprinting into the building, followed by the others he’d seen when he left and a few new ones.

The new ones were wide-eyed and panicked, but Vlad recognized them easily enough.

Daniel deposited the woman he was carrying, Charlie, down on a soft space that had appeared when he entered and turned to find Clockwork. “We need to seal the tower,” he practically panted the words out, a nasty looking cut oozing over his left eye. “Dan – Where is Dan?”

“He went to retrieve a few from the world of the living,” Frostbite filled him in. “There are those who are trapped in the school.”

“Actually,” Dan stepped in through a portal that opened near Vlad, followed by Wulf and four ghosts. Wulf took a moment to close the portal before padding over to Daniel. “We’re here now. We found out something interesting.” He put a hand on one ghost’s shoulder. “Freddy Bellgard, here, can apparently get angry enough to knock Spectra unconscious.”

Vlad stopped, having been about to say something, and turned to look at the boy. “Bellgard?”

“Yeah,” the ghost looked back at him, smiling sheepishly.

“We can talk about that later,” Daniel stepped in between them, meeting Dan’s eyes. “I found a couple of people.” He gestured towards the door, at the new arrivals, and grinned. “Maelstrom and the original Ghostwriter. Got us out of a bit of trouble,” he looked at one of the ghosts. “You should go talk to him – Apparently, he was under the impression that he would be hunted and returned to stasis, which is why they hid.”

One of the ghosts that had followed Dan in split off from the group and practically threw himself across the room.

Another of them followed him after a second, staying back a ways and just watching the reunion that seemed to be taking place. The two teenaged boy-ghosts looked around the tower with amazement in their eyes. “Freddy, Sidney,” Daniel addressed them. “I need the two of you to do something for me.”

“Yeah?” Freddy nodded.

“Just about anything,” Sidney said.

“See those boys over there?” Daniel pointed at their children, a serious expression on his face. “I need the two of you to watch over them. They’re some of the first people that Spectra will go after if she gets the chance – she already proved that. They’re my kids, and I can explain that later, but I need you to watch them for now.”

Both Sidney and Freddy nodded and hurried over to them, going slower as they got nearer and smiling gently when the boys noticed.

Vlad glanced at Frostbite, standing near the ghost of storms that had wreaked so much chaos and damage when he’d been under Rewind’s control. The ice ghost was, it seemed, speaking to an old friend, at ease with the situation and wearing a friendly smile.

When Daniel finally turned to him, Vlad took a deep breath. “I hate being useless, Daniel,” he peered down his nose at the other Halfa, an eyebrow quirking up. “And what about Danielle? If the tower is being sealed— “

“Then we can give her a few minutes but only a few.” Daniel grit his teeth and Vlad noticed, for the first time, that his hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists. “There is a storm coming, Vlad. Jazz and I, we stopped by Pariah Dark’s keep.” He swallowed, a flash of fear in his eyes for a moment before he managed to bury it. “His casket is _open._ ”

Reflexively, Vlad pulled Dana closer again, settling her a little higher on his hip. “ _Open?”_

“Open,” Daniel nodded, taking a deep breath through his nose and letting it out slowly. “I need you to help me plan something. We’ve got some resources, your aunt went through your lab and grabbed what seemed useful while I rescued Charlie, but we do not have much and we also do not have much time.”

“So you distracted them to keep them from hearing what we’re about to plan?” Vlad glanced over at Jasmine, who looked to be discussing something with Clockwork.

“Sort of,” Daniel reached out and put his hands on Vlad’s arms, pulling both him and Dana closer. With a sigh, he dropped his chin to Vlad’s shoulder, rolling his head so that his cheek was on top of Dana’s head. He reached out with a hand to pet one finger gently across the top of Damien’s head, then returned his hand to Vlad’s arm. “I just needed them to gather information from the others. I’ve heard stories about the older ghosts, from Clockwork. They have never really gotten along, despite knowing that they should because they’re the ones meant to keep the world in balance. If Jazz talks to Clockwork and Frostbite and the Ghostwriters talk to each other and the rest of Charlie’s group talks to Undergrowth and whoever else, then we can get a full report on things they’ve noticed without the old habits kicking in.”

“…How did I not notice you’d gotten tactical?” Vlad laughed a little, trying to keep his face from flushing. He could feel the faint whisper of chill coming off of Daniel’s body, was distinctly aware of how close the other Halfa was to him, the press of his hands against Vlad’s arms.

That it was a common pose, from what he’d seen, of two parents trying to reassure their child did not escape his notice.

Daniel stood up straight again, one hand coming up to rub soothingly at Dana’s hair. “I don’t know – I think when we stopped being constant enemies, maybe you stopped paying full attention.” He smiled, a bright thing that was aimed directly at Vlad, and the older Halfa knew –

He would do anything to protect that smile, to make sure he could feel the pounding of his heart when looked at by this boy.

Even if he had to take on the entire court of Shadow controllers to do so.

Oh, how he had _changed_.

 

X

 

Dan tensed his hand, feeling his knuckles pop again and again as he tightened it into a fist repeatedly.

Something was wrong with him.

He could feel it, could feel his core twitching in a way he vaguely remembered from when he’d been dying and Clockwork had managed to fuse the two halves of him together. There was something similar happening now, it seemed, and he was not going to interrupt his lover from what he was doing to ask him about it. There was enough worry in the air, Clockwork did not need to focus on his.

He would, undoubtedly, find out eventually.

But for now, Dan would keep quiet, keep to the edges of things, keep himself from being the thing that brought everything to a halt. He would also, perhaps, panic in his own time. The pangs and twitches of his core had started up again when Rewind had yanked him into a human state of being. It had been less than a month, twenty-seven days in all, but it had been enough time to do _something_ permanent to him.

It was a discomfiting feeling, being human. He was made up of the two ghost halves of Danny Fenton and Vlad Masters – not much human left behind in what had gone into making him. Traces, perhaps, echoes of the lives they’d lived. Fragments, if anything at all.

That he had a heartbeat now, most days, was only making it worse.

Dan took a slow, deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he could only stare at his midsection in shock. Everything was as it had been, but he had seen something there, something that could not be possible. Not for him, not with what he was, not with how he was put together.

The ring around his stomach sparked into existence again and Dan _stared._

A silver flash, bright and quick to die down.

The only times he had ever seen something like that were easy to remember, easy enough to pull to the front of his mind and turn over in his head. Danny’s were white, Vlad’s were black, Danielle’s were white—

And _his_ were apparently _silver._

Clockwork’s hand reached over and took Dan’s, curling their fingers together. Dan still didn’t know which Halfa was responsible for the want to be touched all the time, but he suspected it was Vlad. Touch starvation was a hell of a thing. “A catalyst,” he said quietly. “I foresaw this as one of many possibilities, but it is too closely tied to my timeline for me to see the whole thing.”

Dan looked up at him and he could feel how wide his eyes were, how startled and scared he must have appeared. “A catalyst?” he repeated the word, trying to stem the frantic flow of his thoughts.

“Traces of humanity, fragments of who your parents were,” Clockwork’s thumb rubbed soothingly over the back of Dan’s hand. “And Rewind’s corruption of you, the humanity he dragged into your body. Those fragments took to the humanity he forced upon you, grew as all rooted things do. They put down roots in what he had caused and even when that was reversed, they continued to grow.” He paused, making a displeased face. “I have seen less than I would have liked, in regard to it, but it is a future I foresaw as a possibility when I first met you.”

When they had first met.

Which meant two things: the first was that Clockwork had either not wanted to or had not been able to look into it further since then. He hadn’t known their timeline was hurtling along towards this.

The second, with the way he was wording it, meant that Clockwork was apologizing in his own way for not telling Dan about it sooner. Had possibly not thought that it would become a reality for them. The flicker and flare of anger in him died down quickly and Dan took another deep breath. He nodded and leaned his forehead into Clockwork’s shoulder. “Will I have to leave?” he asked quietly.

“No,” Clockwork’s answer was immediate. “I would prefer it if you didn’t,” he said after a moment, softer and calmer. “You can if you would like, I will not bind you here.”

Dan let go of his hands and grabbed two handfuls of the Timekeeper’s cloak and tunic, dragging him even closer. “ _No._ ” he hissed the word out, feeling his core twist and crackle. “This is where I belong, this is where I go – I belong here, with _you_ , and I will not leave for anything. I will make trips out, but this is where I will always return to.” He shoved his nose into Clockwork’s neck, growling. “You are mine, Timekeeper, I am not going to leave you for such a little thing.”

“Good,” Clockwork’s free hand came up and around his back, pressing them together with no space between. “Because you are _mine._ ”

He had been told, once, that ghosts loved possessively.

That they burned with it, once they felt it. There was nothing that would stop them from loving until the affection died and they went their separate ways, if they ever did. It was, in part, why young Kitty and Johnny were so much about the other. It did not matter if they were angry at the one they loved, they still belonged to each other.

Clockwork was no exception to the rule, it seemed, and Dan was perfectly fine with that.

The Timekeeper was his, just as he was the Timekeeper’s, and that was just how things were. Even with Dan managing to become a Halfa, they still belonged to each other. Despite his hatred of being caged, this did not feel like a cage and a collar. This felt like a variation of freedom, devoting himself to someone and knowing they would be just as devoted to him.

In human terms, it was probably unhealthy, but ghosts were not humans.

Their world was not bound by the same rules and unless someone was being abused in some way, ghosts were left to behave how they wanted for the most part. Walker stepped in if someone was doing something abhorrent, but they were left alone unless they had done something to bring upon them the wrath of the Observants. Those that garnered the attention of the Observants usually were intending on never coming back, sometimes due to the loss of those they loved.

“We are needed,” Clockwork whispered in his ear before pulling slowly away, wrapping both hands around his staff, keeping as far away from the scarring at the bottom of it as he could. “You have a question to ask,” he turned to the Bookkeeper.

“What exactly is happening?”

The younger of the Ghostwriters turned, reaching out and taking his hand. “Liam…”

“No, I think we need to know.” The Bookkeeper looked at his partner and frowned. “The school was a mess, Freddy had to defend against…Spectra? Was that her name? I know she managed to be a school counselor, several years ago, but I don’t know much more than that.”

Dan sighed and stepped forward. “Mister Lancer,” he addressed the ghost, then paused, feeling his cheeks flush slightly as everyone stared at him. Damn his memories, damn the life Danny lived and had given him echoes of. “Do you remember the attack that left the entire city damaged, the one wherein the Fentons had everyone under shielding?” he waited until the Bookkeeper had nodded, then continued. “That was the ghost king, Pariah Dark. Pariah Dark is the father of Spectra.”

“So she’s the same level of threat as him?” the Bookkeeper glanced around the room. “Danny and a few others managed to have that handled pretty easily, if I recall.”

“It would be fine if it were just her,” Danny stepped in. “But it’s her, her brothers, and their father.”

The Bookkeeper looked at him, mouth hanging open. “And I’ve been reading some of the history books of the Ghost Zone,” he muttered. “The same bloodline, that means—”

“That means we’re under more threat than ever,” Danny nodded, looking at Dan. The Halfa motioned him over when everyone was looking at the Bookkeeper, to see his response. Dan moved closer to him, glancing at Clockwork and making eye contact with him. If Danny had something to plan and Dan was needed, then Clockwork would be needed to distract the rest and let them plan.

Clockwork nodded back and moved closer to the Bookkeeper, capturing his attention and explaining something in a softer tone.

Dan glanced between the two Halfas that were considered his parents and spoke quietly. “What are you thinking?” he looked to Danny first. “And is there anything that needs me?”

“I’m thinking we need more backup on this,” Danny muttered. “Some of the people on our side who would be useful are still,” he sighed gesturing subtly over towards where Wilson, William, and Charlie were still unconscious. Their friends were with them, watching over them. “Out of commission. William especially would be useful, considering how easily he controls shadows and knows how one of them fights in a way we don’t know.”

“Barring that,” Vlad added. “Wilson would likely be useful as well. Information, always important.” He shifted Dana on his hip, readjusting Damien so that he would fall down. “And Danielle is late reporting in. She should have been nearby, by now.”

“If she’d gotten even somewhat close, she would have sensed me and I would have sensed her,” Dan growled the words out. “The fact that I haven’t sensed her is worrying.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “She would need me to escort her into the tower, but she would be able to sense me. My signature is all over the tower – I live here.” He glanced towards the door. “…Just a moment.”

Dan turned on his heel and moved across the room to where Maelstrom was, the old weather ghost glaring at everyone with leashed rage in his eyes and barely contained worry in his posture. “Would you be able to sense your student?” he asked.

Maelstrom blinked a couple of times. “Vortex?” he snorted, relaxing somewhat. “Of course I would.”

“Is there any way you can contact him?”

For a moment, the old ghost paused, still slouched against the wall, then stood up straight and nodded. “Yes.” He blinked a couple of times, then said it again, sounding even more sure of himself. “Yes. There is a way. It will take a bit, the bond was somewhat severed when I was imprisoned, but I believe I can reach out along it and find him. Is he needed here?”

“Yes,” Dan nodded. “We’re going to need backup. Tactically speaking, Vortex is one of the strongest ghosts still roaming around and, while his emotional stability is not the best, it has been tempered. I do not care how you do it, just contact him and get him here as quickly as you can. Tell him he can bring his nightmare, too.”

“His nightmare?” Maelstrom narrowed his eyes. “And what does that mean?”

“It means he has a mate,” Dan rolled his eyes and turned to walk back to Dan and Vlad, leaving Maelstrom spluttering at his back. “There,” he told them. “Maelstrom believes he may be able to contact Vortex, Vortex will bring Nocturne.”

“And, what,” Undergrowth’s voice made Dan’s upper lip curl back, the ghost himself looming over the cluster of them. “Will the beauteous night bring his teacher back into the world? Dusk disappeared, so long ago, at the behest of the Observants. It’s a wonder the rest of us are still wandering free. Those few,” he snarled, cutting a glance towards Clockwork. “Those happy few. Ice and Plants. Of the old teachers, those are the ones who remained free,” he turned his head towards Danny. “Those who had not chosen a protégé.”

“Well,” Danny frowned, then turned to look at Clockwork.

“They knew that those without a student could not be replaced,” Undergrowth hissed the words, leaning down and getting too close to Danny’s face. From where he stood, Dan could see the blood leave Vlad’s face, eyes filled with a fury he hadn’t seen from the man ever before.

Ghosts loved possessively.

Even half ghosts.

Dan bit down on a string of words that Vlad would have smacked him for saying in front of Dana and reached forward to yank Undergrowth back from Danny. “I can see why Clockwork warned me of the misbehavior of the older ghosts,” he rolled his eyes again, pressing one hand against Undergrowth’s chest and continuing to move him away from the two Halfas. “My little sister is better behaved than you,” he told the plant-controlling ghost.

Vlad, holding Dana, looked proud of his daughter.

For all that the Halfa said he wasn’t sure how to handle a relationship, wasn’t ready for one, he looked about ready to declare his devotion to Danny. He had come to stand at Danny’s side while Dan moved Undergrowth back, pressed nearly shoulder to shoulder with the younger.

“When my toddler-aged little sister is better behaved than you,” Dan narrowed his eyes at Undergrowth. “Then there is a problem.”

“How is it that there came to be children of yours?” Undergrowth turned his eyes on Vlad. “How have you come to be a father? The entire Ghost Zone would have been talking about it if the great Plasmius had sired any. The Observants might have even come calling, to lock you away once your heirs could take your place.”

Dan looked at –

Damn it.

They were his parents. He had spent years, decades even, denying that as a truth. Here and now, however, they were not a miserable scrap of a boy and a twisted remnant of a man trying to do something right. Here and now, Danny had grown into a capable fighter, powers still growing and surpassing, stronger even than Dan and Vlad…Well, Vlad was seeking help for the things that were wrong with him. Was rebuilding the bridges he’d burnt with his best friends, was seeking forgiveness for the wrongs he’d committed.

And Dan, even as much as he was a literal mixture of the two of them, was also his own person who wanted parents.

Wanted a family to belong to.

Wanted people that were his, ones that he could rely on in the rare circumstances of an enemy being too powerful for him to fight on his own. Damn Vlad’s want for touch, for people, for not being alone, but those needs were his now. No matter what else happened, it was Dan who wanted to be held at times, to have the company of others, to never be alone.

Clockwork was his love, if he were being truthful.

If he continued to be truthful, Danny Fenton and Vlad Masters were his parents, no matter the strange circumstance that made it so. The clone children were his siblings, even if he barely knew how to handle children besides Dana, clinging as she did.

“It’s a long story,” he faced the Master of Plants, unblinking and refusing to back down. “It is their choice whether or not to tell it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adore Freddy. He's my favorite OC.
> 
> Dan is a Good Big Brother. And also -- Halfas had some way of coming about before the advent of the technology that got Danny and Vlad.


	6. How The Ground Shakes

Danielle looked down at her feet as the entire prison building trembled.

“Uh,” she looked back to where Walker sat with his son and Kitty. “Walker? Is that supposed to happen?” she took a deep breath, chewing on the inside of her lip for a second. “Prison is shaking, doesn’t feel like that’s supposed to happen.”

“No,” Walker looked down at the ground as well, climbing back to unsteady feet. “What is happening out there?” he called out to one of the guards.

The guard looked back at him, eyes wide. “We don’t know, sir!”

Danielle stood up and moved to the door, staring out into the Ghost Zone with narrowed eyes. The glowing green and bright purple were almost eye-burning with how much they stood out against each other, but she managed to see past them. In the distance, in the same way she’d seen the storm in the city in the world of the living, she could see a thunderous cloud of darkness closing in on them now. “We need to go,” she called out over her shoulder. “Walker, I don’t care how you do it, get the prison evacuated.”

“Evacuated?!”

“ _Now!”_ she turned and ran for the back of the prison, towards where the actual cells and such were kept. “Everyone!” she raised her voice to be heard above the din. “Everyone listen to me!”

Walker followed her at a run, Johnny at his side. “EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!”

The entire prison went silent and stared at him. “Now, I don’t know what’s happening,” he kept his voice loud enough to cover any jeers and snarls aimed at him. “But this little lady here, she knows what’s going on. She has saved my existence today, a couple of times, and I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t take her at her word. She seems to have just seen something.”

“Thank you,” Danielle muttered to him, then turned back to the inmates and the guards. “Pariah Dark has been released,” she told them. “From the front of the prison, I saw his army approaching. If you don’t want to get in the way of that, I would suggest you get out now.”

“And how do we go about that?”

Danielle grinned as she turned to Skulker, the one who’d spoken up. “We’ll figure it out.” She told him.

“…You plan just like the whelp you look like,” he muttered, standing up and moving closer to her. “Listen to her,” he told those he’d managed to get on his side. Danielle knew he’d likely been planning a riot, a chance to escape. “She’s one of the Halfas.”

“Walker?” Danielle turned back to him. “This is your prison. Can you make a hole in the energy, big enough to get us out?”

With a nervous swallow and a deep breath, Walker nodded. When he started walking, Johnny followed him, walking in-step with his father. Their energies felt the same, Johnny would probably be able to manipulate something his father had created. Kitty stayed with Danielle and smiled when the Halfa turned to her. “Can you start asking around, find those who might help us?”

“Sure thing,” Kitty nodded. “Can’t guarantee that anyone will, but I can ask.”

She took off to do so, slipping into the crowds and disappearing for a few minutes. Danielle looked to the guards, her hands clenched into fists at her side. “Whatever you guys have taken from them, whatever contraband you’ve confiscated, if it is weaponry – Give it back to them. Pariah Dark’s army, possibly even the ghost king himself, is bearing down on us. They’ll be here in not-too-long and I don’t want to have to watch anyone Fade, today.”

The guards nodded and dispersed.

Someone tapped her shoulder and Danielle looked to find Kitty standing there with a female ghost. “Her and three others,” Kitty smiled. “They’re gonna help us.”

Danielle smiled back. “Nice to meet you,” she held out her hand. “Sorry, which one are you?”

The ghost smiled as well, her long black hair shifting over her shoulder as she inclined her head. “I am Desiree,” she said, her voice soft. “I grant wishes – a curse, I suppose. True heart’s desires, wishes often twisted in a way.”

“Ah,” Danielle felt her eyebrows raise, “You almost destroyed Danny’s best friend.”

“And I hope one day he will forgive me for that,” Desiree sighed. “It does not do well to be on the wrong side of the Halfas.”

“Who’re the other three?” Danielle looked between the two ghosts in front of her.

“One of them is someone who has been staying close to me since being put in here,” Desiree turned her head, one bangle-covered arm gesturing towards another female ghost with short brown hair and green eyes. “She doesn’t remember her name, but she does remember being in the world of the living around the time that Rewind was running loose. She remembers being angry and afraid, all at once. Other than that, she has been wiped clean of memories.” She gestured again, towards a ghost that stood next to the first one. “He calls himself Yorick, though he says that is not actually his name. The third is,” she looked back at Danielle for a moment. “Well, it is Ember.”

“I can see why you look nervous about that,” Danielle crossed her arms over her chest. “She hurt Danny too, nearly got him killed a couple of times. We’re sort of used to her, though – she was one of the ones that stayed with us for a while.”

When Desiree waved the three over, they actually came.

The one who didn’t remember her name stopped directly in front of Danielle. “I remember you,” she said, her voice soft. “I saw you. In the fight,” she looked down at her feet, her forehead wrinkling as she tried to remember. “In…In the fight.”

Yorick looked at her, unimpressed, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I remember how to get past unnoticed,” he told Danielle. “Sounds like that sort a’ thing is gonna be needed. Big threat, if it comes down on ya, you’ll need every bit a’ help you can get.” He raised an eyebrow when Kitty narrowed her eyes at him. “C’mon, doll, ain’t time to turn squeamish. Sounds like a war you got goin’.”

“Let me guess,” Kitty snorted. “New York?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

Danielle studied him for a minute, then sighed. “You worked for the rum runners, didn’t you?” she laughed a little, despite the air feeling heavier and heavier. “That’s how you know how to get things smuggled places.”

“Capone, actually,” Yorick’s grin was a hair to the side of pleasant, too many teeth showing. “Lots a’ things happen when you work for Capone.”

Ember rolled her eyes. “Now imagine being in the cell next to him,” she told the group at large. “He got crushed by boxes one night, at a shipyard. Guess what he controls.”

“Doll, don’t do it,”

“Guess who he had to _train,_ ” Ember’s smile, on the other hand, made Danielle nervous. She looked feral, like she wanted to toss Yorick through a window. For a moment, Danielle had to work to make herself focus on the idea that had been presented, the thought of who Yorick might have had to—

Oh.

_Oh._

“The Box ghost?”

Yorick glared at her, his crossed arms pulling in tighter and defensive, eyes narrowed. “Don’t say anythin’ more about it if ya know what’s good fer ya.”

Before Danielle could say anything else, the back wall of the prison opened up. The prisoners took that moment to rush out all at once, escaping in a steady flow. When the crowd had dispersed, only Danielle, her group, Walker, Johnny, and Skulker remained.

They all turned to Skulker, a couple of eyebrows raised. “The whelp has done me a favor,” he ground the words out. “I intend to return it so that we are even and the hunt may continue.” He looked at Ember. “He did you a favor too.”

“Which is part of why I’m standing here, right now,” Ember rolled her eyes. “Where are we going?”

Danielle nodded towards the door. “There’s something I want to go see. Walker, can you get us to the Observants’ buildings?”

“Not much of them left,” he started, then paused. “But I can get you to the remains.”

“Good enough,” Danielle nodded. “There’s something I have to see for myself. If their prison was blasted open, we might be able to look at who is left in it.” She nodded when Walker winced. “Yeah, I know, stupid plan, we were told to meet up with my brother and everyone at Clockwork’s tower, but Pariah Dark is _loose._ If his army is any indication, he is running free.” She gestured to the front of the prison. “They are on their way and we’ve got a handful of people to defend two entire worlds. And I don’t think Pariah would be happy just having Amity Park, this time. We might be able to find some backup.”

“I can get us there,” Walker nodded. “But we should go now.”

“Then let’s go,” Danielle led the way out, pulling up a shield over the top of them. She might not be able to keep them entirely covered, but anything coming from up top would have that to contend with.

She just hoped it would be enough.

 

The remains of the Observants’ territory were absolute ruins.

Danielle had been told that, Walker had said as much, but she hadn’t actually been prepared for what they would look like when she and the group of people arrived.

The buildings were ruined piles of rubble, the main trial room a half-shell of what it had once been. “And you managed to get out of this?” she asked Walker as they moved closer to it. “This is a nightmare…” Danielle looked up at the creaking bits that had managed to stay anchored, the floating rubble that impacted with other pieces in slow motion. “How did you survive this?”

“By being at the edge of it,” Walker whispered, pointing. “I was on my way out when everything went.”

Danielle took a deep breath, then nodded.

Johnny and Kitty, walking behind her, looked at Walker with panicked faces. She could see their terror out of the corner of her eye. Johnny seemed to be realizing how close he’d come to losing his father again. If she’d almost lost her father after only nine months of knowing him, she would have been panicked too.

Ember stopped at the edge of one building and kneeled down to poke at the broken clumps of stone and wood. “This is one of the oldest places in the Ghost Zone,” she muttered. “Aren’t all the old places supposed to have protections and stuff?”

“They do,” Skulker whispered back. “But not when the threat comes from inside. The blast pattern, the way everything is laid out, this happened from inside the building.” He looked at Walker, a frown on his robotic face. “How did a threat capable of this get _inside?”_ he gestured at the rubble. “This should not have been allowed to happen, how did—”

“They let her in,” Walker turned to him. “Spectra was being trialed. The Shadow was being trialed. They are two of the siblings, the children of Pariah Dark. Their relation was hidden, somehow.”

“Didn’t you say that the Shadow could shift forms?” Danielle asked him.

“He can,” Walker looked at her like a drowning man. “The _thing_ that came for my entire family can shift between the familiar shape we’ve all seen and his true form. Doubtless, there is no one left who remembered that. I think he and his sister were waiting until they were together again, then they were able to pull this off from inside the courtroom.” He sighed. “Rewind was actually the one to warn me.”

“Wait, what?” Ember’s head snapped up from where she was still investigating the ruin of the building. The nameless ghost stood beside her, her hands wrapped around a post that had been snapped in half. “That psychopath actually _warned you_ about Spectra?”

Walker closed his eyes as he nodded, this time, and Danielle put a steadying hand on his shoulder. The ghost had come close to Fading several times within the span of about thirty hours. She couldn’t blame him for being exhausted. “From what I saw, Rewind hated humans and only a few ghosts in particular,” she explained for the warden. “If it went against his skewed moral compass, he would have reacted to it.” She sighed. “He would have warned people he thought could actually do something.”

Desiree floated her way around the rubble, her hands brushing bits and pieces as she went. “There is something here,” she announced to the rest of them. Danielle looked up and saw her stop at one piece in particular. “Memories, in fact.”

She pushed that piece down to them.

Danielle saw it first, her eyes going wide as a sick feeling rolled through her gut. There were markings on the stone, things that looked like metal melted into it. The heat of an ectoblast, in all likelihood, had been the thing to melt the metal. One of the markings, however, was a ring she distinctly remembered Rewind wearing.

She hadn’t liked him at all, had actually hated him, but it still made her feel out of sorts to know he’d been erased from existence like that.

The collar-like necklace he’d worn was there as well, mostly flattened. The very corners of it were still rounded, like the entire thing had suddenly given in to the heat and pressure, the neck inside of it having vanished. With no support, it would have collapsed. Danielle tried not to think about how horrible of a way to go that was, being choked by your own jewelry until you Faded underneath the intensity of the attack on you.

She shuddered. “Rewind is gone,” she told the group.

Skulker and Ember turned almost at the same moment to look at her, wide-eyed and startled. “What?” Ember stood up and jogged over, looking at the chunk of rubble. “Oh, man,” she shook her head, her tail of hair whipping around for a second. “That is a sucky way to go. Even for someone I didn’t like, I can still feel…Ugh.”

“Yeah,” Danielle nodded and set the rubble down, pressing it into the ground so it wouldn’t float away again. If she survived to make it back to this place, she would retrieve it and send him off properly. He’d hurt her, hurt her family, but he had suffered as he died. Something should be done to give him a proper send off. Sometimes, she hated the sense of Right and Wrong she’d learned from Danny. It made the disposal of an enemy difficult, at times. “We should keep moving.”

“Rewind was a bigger badass than some ghosts I know of,” Ember cast a glance towards Skulker. “And the Shadow sibs still took him down.” She pinched her lips together. “ _Damn._ ”

“You can leave if you want to,” Danielle told her.

“Nuh-uh, no way,” Ember looked at her again. “Not only are you and yours strong and heroic but if I leave here now and they find out that I was on your side, even briefly?” she gestured at the stone that held the remains of Rewind. “Ghost King doesn’t like betrayers, babe. Anyone who helps a human is automatically a betrayer. I’d be disintegrated before I could Fade.”

“The slow death,” Skulker intoned, moving closer as well. “I think I can get a few friends of mine to help us.”

“Could you?” Danielle nodded. “Good. I would suggest we all go together, though.”

“Large groups make us suspicious,” Yorick spoke up for the first time, standing up and brushing his hands off. “He’s right, by the way. The explosion that happened here? Was definitely from the inside. Blast patterns, trajectories…All of it.” His accent, the one Kitty had noticed earlier, was gone. “I recognize this place. Or, what’s left of it.” He might have gone on speaking about that, but he frowned and looked at the ghost with no name. “What’s she doing?”

She was pacing around in circles, tugging on her hair, babbling in whispers to herself.

Danielle moved towards her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?” she leaned down to look into the ghost’s face, frowning. “Is everything alright?”

“Memories,” she hissed the word out, still tugging at her hair. “He took their hands and feet, kept them in boxes, kept them, kept them, kept pieces of them preserved and labeled, names and names and names…Dozens of children. We didn’t know how many, we thought only a handful, but he’d had shelves and shelves and shelves and shelves and shelves – we spent _days_ tagging evidence and cleaning out the house.”

“Uh,” Danielle felt the moment her face twisted into confused horror. “ _What?_ ”

The ghost stopped pulling on her hair, her green eyes bright and clear. “Kerrickson.”

“What?”

“My name – Lindsey Kerrickson.” She took a deep breath, then nodded. “First female detective on the force in my town. They made special dispensations for me, a unique uniform because I refused to wear skirts. The last little boy was named…Young. Something Young. Lester? Maybe, maybe,” she shook her head. “We only managed to find the killer after he’d killed his last victim. He kept them for three days, then pulled them apart. Had a table saw.”

Danielle stood up, her hand still on Kerrickson’s shoulder. “Youngblood.” She took a moment to stamp down on the second wave of sickness she felt, then took a deep breath. “There’s a ghost who calls himself Youngblood. Danny told me about him, he’s always replacing his hand and foot with things. When he’s pretending to be a pirate, it’s a peg and a hook. When he’s a cowboy, it’s a lasso and a spur.” She watched as Kerrickson nodded again. “He appeared around the time the first astronaut was due to land on the moon, that same year.”

“That’s when I couldn’t save him,” Kerrickson whispered. “We need to keep going. There are others we’ll need.”

She broke out of Danielle’s hold and started walking at a steady pace, towards the back courtyard of the Observants’ territory. With a deep breath through her nose, Danielle followed her, relieved when the others did as well.

When they rounded the corner, Danielle froze.

The entire yard was filled with ghosts. They were not roaming free, were instead trapped in some kind of tube system. The ones nearest to her, Danielle could see, were flickering. “It’s like a life support system,” she muttered, going up to one and putting her hand on the glass. “It’s keeping them suspended in one moment in time.”

Walker moved to stand next to her, staring up at the prisoner with wide eyes. “My jail is nothing like this,” he whispered. “This is…Barbaric. I know these are the worst offenders, but this is…Insanity.”

Johnny and Kitty stopped a few feet from him. “And I think,” Johnny looked at his father. “That I know why you never recommended that we be trialed by the Observants,” he looked as sick as Danielle felt, clutching Kitty’s hand in a white-knuckled grip. Her nails were digging into the back of his hand as well, her own knuckles pale. It would probably take a tear in the world to pull them apart.

“Hey!” Ember’s voice was loud in the quiet of the yard. “We met Clockwork, right?”

“Yeah,” Danielle called back.

“He should be in his tower or whatever?”

“…Yes?”

Ember’s head popped out from behind a couple of tubes. “Then why’s he here?”

Danielle ran.

Ducking and dodging around the tubes, she skidded to a halt next to Ember and Skulker. In the tube they were standing in front of, there was a ghost who looked remarkably like Clockwork. There was a different scar on his face, however, and the clock in his chest looked much more ornate. His hair was also long, slicked back and hanging down to his shoulders. “That’s not Clockwork,” Danielle said, keeping her voice quiet. “I think that’s his teacher.”

“The doors need a key to open,” Skulker pointed out.

“I don’t need the key,” Danielle muttered as a couple of white rings flickered over her body. When they faded, she was standing in her human form in front of the tube. “First rule of the Ghost Zone that Danny ever taught me – When humans are here, we’re the ghosts.” She jammed her hand into the lock, clenching it into a fist and watching the machinery of it spark, flash, and then _shatter._

It made her close her eyes and turn her head, stumbling back a few steps.

When the smoke cleared and Danielle blinked a couple of times to get her eyes working again, the tube was hanging open and the ghost inside had moved. His eyes were open, now, red and almost vacant as he dropped to his knees. “Are you Clockwise?” she kneeled next to him, steadying him with her hands on his shoulders.

He said something she couldn’t understand, unintelligible and exhausted-sounding, then nodded.

“Cool. Skulker, could you help him stand?” Danielle turned to the tube next to Clockwise, looking at the inhabitant. From Clockwork, she’d heard stories of Dusk – the Nightmare Bringer, He That Brought Darkness, the Dream Eater – and she knew that he’d been locked away for causing too much chaos by the standards of the Observants. He’d taught Nocturne, however, and he had power on his side. If they could convince him to work with them, it would be that much more help against Pariah Dark.

“Dusk?” Clockwise’s voice was rusty sounding, as if he hadn’t used it in centuries.

“Do you think you can convince him to help us?” Danielle asked the previous Timekeeper. “Do you think you can get him to keep his chaos under enough control until we’ve sent Pariah Dark and his children back into the darkness they came from?”

Clockwise’s eyes suddenly focused, a flash of terror in them as he allowed Skulker to bring him to his feet. “Yes,” he rasped the word out, stumbling for a second until Skulker put an arm around his waist, dragging Clockwise’s arm over his shoulder. “He can be convinced of much if he is aware that not doing so puts himself in danger.” He coughed, bending nearly double, hacking until it sounded like he was going to fall apart right then and there. When he stopped, he leaned back up and looked at the ghost in the tube next to his.

With barely any hesitation, Danielle shoved her hand into that lock as well, dragging her fingers through it until it snapped and popped and hissed. Sparks flew once more and she turned her head away.

Dusk pooled out of the tube and onto the ground, almost liquid as he fell, and Danielle stepped back to avoid him landing on her feet. Without needing to be asked, Kitty and Johnny stepped forward, supporting the Nightmare Bringer between them. “Anyone else we need?” she asked the group. “Anyone that might be here?”

“Over here,” Walker’s voice called out from a few rows away. “I went looking while you did that.”

Danielle moved towards him and stopped, raising her eyebrow. “Amorpho. Haven’t seen him in a long time.” She put her hand into the lock. “Good choice. Shapeshifting abilities. If we can convince him to help us…” she looked at Walker, ignoring the almost-pyrotechnics of the tube. “Thank you for helping us.”

“We owe you and Danny and the rest a favor,” Walker smiled. “The Halfas have proven to be willing to help us, so we should be willing to help them. As empty as the Ghost Zone has gotten to be, I think we need to pull together and keep the rest of us from disappearing.” He balanced Amorpho against his side, keeping the ghost’s head upright. The shapeshifter was bleary but awake, blinking slowly. “I—” he jerked his head up, watching the sky. “We should leave,” he hissed the words out. “We should leave _now._ ”

Looking up as well, Danielle nodded, horror freezing the breath in her lungs.

Above them, coming down with the force of a tsunami, was Pariah Dark’s army. They would be surrounded in _seconds_.

“How did they find us?” Ember looked around wildly, her eyes wide and panicked. Her ponytail was turning into flames, her hands clenching and unclenching. “They should not have been able to find us that fast!”

Turning on her heel, Danielle marched over to Desiree. “If I wished for something, for getting out of here, would you be able to grant it?”

“The wish might turn bad,” Desiree looked panicked as well. “I would be able to get us somewhere else, but I don’t know what my magic might do in return. My wish-granting has always been somewhat unpredictable, chaotic, and it may very well toss you off into the void of the Ghost Zone!”

Shaking her head, Danielle transformed back. “Doesn’t matter. Right now, we need to leave before they get to us.” She took a deep breath, then looked at Clockwise. “I wish we were in Clockwork’s tower,” she met Desiree’s eyes, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. “All of us.” She took another deep breath, pushing down on the rising fear in her chest. She didn’t want to die, she had never wanted to die. “And I wish we were there _now._ ”

“Your wish is my command,” Desiree closed her eyes and raised her hands.

The Observants’ territory faded out around them as the teleportation inherent in the wish took hold.

 

X

 

Danny took a deep breath and faced the room of ghosts that looked suddenly interested in what he had to say.

His sister crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, an eyebrow raised.

“Well,” he started awkwardly, looking at Vlad. “It began when I was about…Fifteen or so. Vlad was in the middle of his craziest schemes, for the most part. Buying most of my school, influencing elections, some…Really nasty stuff.” He glanced at the man again, saw him wince. “Not his best moments.”

“They really weren’t,” Vlad muttered.

“And one day, I met a…I suppose you could say they were a corrupted version of me.” Danny took a deep breath, gesturing at the boys. Darren, Dawyn, and Daven moved towards them and Danny felt a small smile twist his mouth. He was actually pretty proud of them, proud of how steady they were in the face of something that he knew was terrifying them. “At the time, Dawyn,” he put his hand on Dawyn’s shoulder, smiling at the stitched-up clone. “Was sort of insane, but he just wanted not to die. Neither did any of the others – though by the time I met the rest, Dana and Darren had already destabilized and melted down. Daven, Dawyn, and Damien were the ones left.”

“And Danielle,” Vlad spoke up again, shifting Dana as her head lolled in her sleep. “But she was a somewhat more stable result of the process.”

“Process?” someone’s voice asked, though Danny didn’t recognize it.

“Vlad cloned me. Tried to make a version of me that would go along with his plans, would do what he wanted me to do.” Danny shrugged, scratching at the back of his head. “The only reason Danielle was more successful was because Vlad added his own DNA to the mixture, allowing her to temporarily stabilize. He only gave enough to make her a partial success, trying to get more of my DNA to make the process work.”

“And I realized I couldn’t.” Vlad shrugged as well. “I had failed, in my goals, and Danielle nearly destabilized and melted as well. When we were told of the need to bring them forward in the timeline to stabilize a paradox, we allowed it and kept them because they are children – innocent of what my plans at the time were.”

“We’re not in the habit of letting kids get killed,” Danny grinned, feeling a flash of pride at Vlad’s words. The man really had come such a long way. With how he was acting these days, Danny could very easily admit to himself that he was in love with him. He’d been able to, before, but it was easier when Vlad wasn’t acting like an insane villain. “So now we have children. The five you see here are the youngest ones.”

“He said the girl was his _sister_ ,” Undergrowth hissed the words out.

“And she is,” Danny looked at Dan, watched the clenching of his fists for a moment before the sometimes-human nodded minutely. “Dan is from a timeline where my ghost half was yanked out and combined with Vlad’s. He is the mixing of genetics and powers and he is, in a sense, our kid too.”

“Halfas are _sterile_ ,” came the pointed words and a glare at Undergrowth, Vlad’s eyes flashing red for a moment. “We cannot produce children in the normal way and I am lucky enough that Daniel seems to have forgiven me for this particular insanity. My children are not your concern,” he stepped forward, handing Dana and Damien off to Dan for the moment. “And you would do well to _stay away_ from them,” he bared the fangs that had appeared, his hands clenched into fists.

Undergrowth backed away again, looking actually afraid of Vlad for the first time.

“Vlad,” Danny called to him, stepping forward.

It took a moment, but Vlad nodded and moved back towards Danny, his eyes flickering back to blue. “I will hold my temper if he holds his tongue,” was the angry mutter as the older Halfa returned to Danny’s side. Danny snorted as he tried to hold back laughter, knowing that neither of the two was good at that.

He pressed down on the urge to reach out and brush Vlad’s hair back into an orderly state. His ponytail had gotten mussed with the flare of power that had gone through him when he’d partially transformed.

The urge to take care of Vlad was always running at an all-time high, these days.

Danny smiled as Vlad sneered at Undergrowth, then snorted with laughter as he thought of something – how the hell was he going to tell his parents that he loved their best friend? Vlad had to know first, the was important, but if a relationship happened…How would his parents handle it?

Wrong time, he knew, not the best time to be thinking about things, but he couldn’t help it.

Before he could say anything else, the tower shuddered beneath his feet and a group of people fell to the ground. They were not, he realized after a moment, the people who’d been in the room before. With a noise of panic, Danny ran over to where he saw Danielle on the floor, dropping down to check on her.

She was still breathing, her hands clutched around her head, her eyes shut tightly.

The ghosts who had come with her were in much the same position, except for the one who remained upright. Desiree looked back at Danny, her eyes wide. “What went wrong?” she whispered, immediately searching out the ones she had brought. “I know something went wrong, the wishes always do,” she glided over to where Walker was sitting in a ball on the floor, passing a hand over his head.

“I would like to know how you managed to get into my tower,” Clockwork’s sardonic voice sounded over the chaos.

“Had a key,” Danielle sat up slowly, one hand still on her head. “Oh, that sucked. I prefer small teleportation, not mass.” She looked up at Clockwork, then gestured towards Skulker. “Had a key, found him in the Observants’ territory.”

For the first time since Danny had met him, Clockwork looked stunned.

His hands were loose on his staff, like he might drop it at any second, and his mouth was hanging open by a few centimeters. Frostbite moved to stand next to him, his own mouth hanging open in shock. “That is Clockwise,” he told those assembled. “He disappeared a long time ago. Thought to have Faded.”

Danny could understand Clockwork’s shock.

He pushed Dan towards his mate and nodded when Dan looked at him. “Go stand with him,” he muttered. “I think he might need as much support as he can get right now.”

Dan took off, taking Clockwork’s hand in his own like Danny had seen Clockwork do earlier. They weren’t the most physically demonstrative of couples, but he could feel the undercurrent running between them. They were a matched pair, a set, and anyone who would try to get in between would be quickly run off by one or the other.

Maelstrom stepped into the fray, putting his attempts to contact his student on hold as he moved towards the ghosts sitting on the ground. “Hey,” he crouched down and stuck his hand into the mass of darkness curled up between Kitty and Johnny. “Sky-vomit.”

Despite the situation, Danny nearly choked on his laughter.

With a glance his way, Maelstrom grinned. “Sky-vomit, wake your ass up. If you’re here, it’s for a reason. Get your lazy, sleeping ass up and awake.” He threw himself back when the shadows leaped up and angled towards his face. “Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty!” he called out from a safer distance. “Things to do, nightmares to bring, your student and mine apparently sleeping together!” he dodged another attack, cackling madly the entire time. “What’re you going to do, try and rip me apart with your little nightmare minions?”

A spine-tingling growl sounded from the puddle of darkness and it unfolded into the shape of someone who reminded Danny of Nocturne. “Be _silent_ ,” the ghost hissed at Maelstrom. “You have never known when to be _silent._ ”

“Nope!” Maelstrom cackled again, grinning with all of his teeth on display. “But there’s things to do, sky-vomit.”

“ _Quit_ _calling me that!”_

The ghost that Frostbite had identified as Clockwise sat up slowly, blinking his eyes for a moment before he stood on shaking legs and moved over to the angry ghost. He dropped down in front of him, his knees hitting the ground with a painful-sounding thud. “Dusk,” he leaned into the ghost’s space, putting his hands on his cheeks. “ _Dusk_.”

Dusk looked at him blankly for a moment.

After a second, however, his eyes went wide and bright and he launched himself at Clockwise, wrapping his entire body around the previous Timekeeper, his tail twining tightly around his legs. “You _left_ me!” Dusk snarled at Clockwise, rearing up to dig his claws into Clockwise’s wrists, pinning him to the ground. “You _left me!”_

“They took you,” Clockwise corrected, shaking his head. “And I _followed._ ”

Shuddering, Dusk inhaled like he’d been shot; breathless and shaking, he shook his head, pressing as close as he could to Clockwise without them being in the same body. “I was given no trial,” he whispered, leaning back down to press his nose into Clockwise’s jaw, still holding his hands pinned to the ground. “No judges, no jury, just an executioner and a silent grave.”

“I followed after you,” Clockwise shifted, curling his hands so that they were holding Dusk’s. “I made certain that my student would be fine and then I angered the Observants so much that they took me to where you were.” He winced, a little, when Dusk’s teeth flashed for a moment and then disappeared. Danny blinked a couple of times, realizing that Dusk had bitten him. “Your student was not left with nearly the amount of care mine was. They only made certain that he would be functioning, not skilled, before they took you away.”

“My student,” Dusk’s voice was soft for a moment. “Nocturne!”

He sat upright again, letting go of Clockwise and turning to Maelstrom. “You said something about my student!”

“Nocturne and Vortex found each other,” Maelstrom nodded. “Your student and mine are mated.” He looked over when Erato put a hand on his shoulder. “What? It’s true. He doesn’t need to worry about Nocturne, the kid is safe.” He looked back at Dusk. “From what I’ve heard, they’re happy together.”

With a groan, Dusk dropped back down, burying his face in Clockwise’s chest.

“This is a lot of people,” Danny looked at Danielle. “How did you even manage to get them to agree to help us?”

“Well, some of them haven’t yet,” Danielle frowned. “But Desiree, Skulker, Ember, Yorick, Kerrickson, and the Walker family have. The others we rescued, Dusk and Clockwise and Amorpho, we don’t know yet.” She shrugged, her hand dropping from her head into her lap. “Desiree’s actually the one who got us here. I wished for it, for all of us—” she stopped, then looked at the wish-granting ghost. “I think I might know how your wish-granting might have gone wrong this time.”

Desiree moved over to her, folding into a graceful position on the ground. “Yes?”

“I said ‘ _All of us’_. Do you think that your magic might have included the people still trapped in the rest of the tubes?”

With a noise of startled realization, Desiree nodded.

Danny sighed, stamping down on the burst of laughter he wanted to let out this time.

Of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is where I really hope that Wocket forgives me for using their characters. They do not get a major part in the story, just a few mentions and their scene, but I wanted to add them because, well...
> 
> If I'd tried to create my own Dreaming and Time teachers, it would have come across as stealing their characters and renaming them. Dusk and Clockwise became my canon for those teachers a long time ago and I just stuck with it. I tried to contact them before writing this and if they ever get back to me or find this series and they want them out, I will be rewriting if they want me to not include them. I hope it comes across as what it really is -- I just love them so much. I did ask permission, a couple of years back, to create fanworks for the two, but I don't know if Wocket remembers that.
> 
> Or if they even meant this sort of work.
> 
> Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. We're quickly climbing past the number of chapters I thought this would be. But we are wrapping up the series, somewhat, and this is where a bunch of stuff comes to light. I have been planning this since I first started thinking about this AU, about...Six years ago, I think. Spectra has always been planned as my big bad, this story was always going to come here.
> 
> And yes, I did just kill Rewind. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the ride.


	7. Waking To You

 Waking up was a slow and painful process and he could hear voices surrounding him.

William groaned as he tried to move, his entire body sore. The last thing he remembered was Abigail showing up with Charlie, in his nephew’s lab. His niece had looked at him and he had dropped like a ton of bricks, he remembered that much.

Wilson?

William flailed as he sat up, nearly overbalancing and falling off of whatever he was laying on. Wilson had been hurt, had been briefly turned into a doorway for the Shadow of the Throne. The man himself was laying on the surface next to William, eyes still closed and breathing still too-soft for comfort. He was unconscious, still.

It was not the best situation, but it was better than him being dead.

To his other side lay Charlie, her eyes closed in sleep. He could tell she was merely sleeping, despite the similarities in their positions. Her face was bruised and she looked rumpled in a way that likely meant she’d been fighting someone. He’d only seen her like that once before, when she’d tossed a man who’d put his hand on her backside.

Charlie could and would fight back if she felt that something was unjust.

William chuckled, then shook his head. Somethings would never change, even as everything else did.

Speaking of change, the air felt different. Heavier, somehow, like it was a different atmosphere. He could still hear the voices talking, could recognize his nephew’s voice as well as young Daniel’s. For a moment, he thought he could hear Dan and Danielle, as well, but he wasn’t able to focus that much just yet.

Standing up, carefully, William slid off the surface he’d been laid out on.

“Friend,” Wolfgang’s voice was a quiet rumble. “Many things happening. Should be careful, but I can take you to action.”

“I do believe I would like that,” William nodded, nearly falling as he tried to take another step. Wolfgang caught him, one arm around his waist, the other guiding William’s arm to his shoulders. “Are the members of my family alright?” he asked the strongman. “The children, Daniel, Danielle, Vlad?” he paused for a second, then added. “And Dan. He needs more people who care about him.”

“Exhaustion has always made your tongue loose,” Wolfgang smiled. “Yes, family is safe. Girl appeared, poof! Out of _nowhere_! But is safe. Small hurts, small sadness, but safe. Many things happening, old friend.”

“So you’ve said,” William looked up when Wolfgang had managed to get him closer to the others. There was Clockwork, William recognized him and a few of the others. Dan turned to look at him, then raised both eyebrows. “Is everything alright?” he asked his great-great-nephew in return. “Or am I to be stared at this entire time?”

“If you can find a place to sit down, I will hand Dana and Damien over to you,” the sometimes-ghost made it sound like a bribe and William smiled. “But you have to sit down because I am not handing my little siblings over to someone who looks like they could fall down at any moment.” He jiggled Dana on his hip, turning his head to show Damien to William. Extrapolating the meaning from Dan’s words was easy – he’d been showing his concern in a way that came easier to him, rather than exposing the fact that he really did care.

William looked at Wolfgang. “If you could be so kind as to settle me against a wall somewhere I can still listen and talk, that would be wonderful.”

“Of course,” Wolfgang’s eyes were bright, amused and happy.

It took a few seconds, but William ended up sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, somewhat near his nephew. Wolfgang had even retrieved Dana and Damien from Dan, settling the toddler in his lap and the small boy on his shoulder. Vlad looked over at them and smiled, quiet and brief, before turning back to Daniel.

His family would be safe.

William crossed his legs at the ankles and let Dana play with his hands, babbling away in the strange language only she and her brothers spoke, occasionally letting out her pterodactyl shrieks. Damien, for once, seemed content to stay in one place and chitter back at his sister.

The other boys slipped across the room to congregate around William, followed by two ghosts that William thought looked familiar. “Hello,” he greeted them after making sure his nephews were comfortable. “I believe we’ve met, though I must apologize for not remembering your names.” He smiled when Dana shrieked and clapped her hands together, her sharp little fangs glinting in the purple and green lights of the room they were in.

“Sid!” she shrieked again.

“I’m Sidney Pointdexter,” the smaller of the two boys sat down, reaching forward to let Dana grab his hand and pull at his fingers. “This is Freddy. Bellgard, if you wanted his last name as well.”

Freddy and Sidney.

William smiled at the both of them. “I remember now. You were there, briefly, in the aftermath of the fight. When my nephew collapsed. Rewind was taken away and the two of you did quite a number on him.” His smile grew when Sidney flushed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “You called him a bully and managed to keep him pinned, if I recall correctly.”

“Well, Freddy managed to knock Spectra out while she was pretty fully powered up,” Sidney looked proud of the other boy, a grin on his face that made him look happier than William remembered him being.

“Well, congratulations are in order for that,” William looked over at Freddy.

“She was threatening Pointdexter,” Freddy muttered, his own cheeks flushed. “Thought she could get away with it, thought she could just…Move on through, havin’ murdered him and all.” He crossed his arms over his chest, looking away from them. “She threatened him.”

“And he knocked her unconscious,” Sidney just continued to look proud of Freddy, reaching out his free hand to take Freddy’s. “Kept me safe from her.”

“Ah, but,” William looked at Sidney. “Aren’t you safe from her, being…Well.”

“You would think so, right?” Sidney sighed, ruffling Dana’s hair before pulling his hand back. “She can apparently still feed off of my misery. That remains the same, whether I’m alive or dead. Crazy old bat,” he shook his head, letting Freddy pull him closer and wrap his arms around him. “I’m still having trouble remembering everything – S’hard, y’know? My memories are tied up in the trauma of my death. She did a number on me, warped my mind and then walked me off a roof.”

William couldn’t help but wince in sympathy for the poor boy. “Her brother warped my lover, as well. Seems to be a familial trait, shared between them. When Wilson wakes, perhaps you should speak with him.” He smiled at the boy, trying his best to make it reassuring. “He may have some useful things to say to you, in that regard. He sat upon the Nightmare Throne for a time, was tormented by the shadow tied to the throne. The shadow got into his mind and made him think I was betraying him, that he was better off alone.”

Sidney winced, sympathetic, and nodded. “It’d probably help to talk to someone who knows what it’s like, yeah.” His face brightened. “Thanks!”

“You are welcome,” William watched as Wes approached, sitting down next to Daven, waving hello to him before pulling out a stack of paper and a pen. The two of them took turns drawing and writing, for whatever reason, and William watched them for a few minutes. He supposed they might get along on the common ground of neither being able to really speak.

Wes had been born mute.

In a lull between the sound of the room, William heard what he knew to be Daniel’s cellphone. His nephew’s friend – partner, lover? No matter how they had denied it before, there was something between them – made a face and transformed back into his human shape, dragging it out of a pocket and holding it up to his ear. “Hey, Sam, how’re things going?”

He winced and William knew the girl was shouting at him.

“No, no, don’t come through the portal,” Danny made a face, holding a hand as if he could push her back through the phone. “Sam, it’s not safe. No, I know that means it’s not safe for me either – Yeah, I asked Jazz to get our parents to put the shields up. Is everyone behind them?” he made a face. “Wait, who’s there?”

Daniel looked up to meet William’s eyes for a second. “Yeah, I’ll tell them. Wilson’s still unconscious and we’re trying to figure out a plan and how to approach what’s happening. We were attacked, we retreated.”

The woman – female ghost that floated near Danny raised an eyebrow, turning slowly in the air so that she was upside down. After a moment, Danny waved her away, turning his back to her and moving closer to Vlad. He held a hand over the speaker of the phone, muttered something to him, then returned to the call. “I guess just tell them to stay inside the shields. That’s the safest anyone is going to be, Sam. In this situation, we’re lucky to get even a few minutes of safety. Pariah Dark has kids, Sam, and he and his kids are running loose in the Ghost Zone. From what I’ve been told, the Observants are down and not getting back up.”

She must have gone into a shocked silence at that because Danny actually had to ask, “Sam? You still there?”

After another moment: “Yeah, we’re in Clockwork’s tower for right now. It survived the last siege of Pariah Dark and his entire reign as ghost king.” He sighed, pressing the palm of his hand into his face, ruffling his hair. “Alright, thanks. Tell my parents that I’m okay, that Jazz is okay, and make sure Tucker’s alive.”

With a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face, Danny hung up the phone, sticking it back into his pocket and turning back to Vlad. “The entire city is overrun,” he said, hands clenching into fists at his sides. “We need to get this shut down, _now._ ” He looked around, then moved through the sizable crowd that had gathered in the room. “Anyone willing to help, I need you over here. Anyone not willing to help, those who just want to hide, _next room over!”_

Clockwork looked at him, William could see the ghost studying the half-ghost, before raising a hand. A door appeared on the far wall, opening and allowing those who wanted to stay out of the fighting to go through it. “Anyone who wishes to merely shelter, through there,” he called out.

Surprisingly, William saw none of those in the room go through the door. His own niece refused to move from her spot next to Charlie, her little fists clenched and a determined look on her face. Wolfgang sat next to her, a hand on her shoulder like he was trying to comfort her. From where he was sitting near William, Wes looked up but shook his head. He did stand, however, leaving the pen and paper with Daven. A feeling of resolute and absolute determination flashed through the room. “This is where we fight Pariah Dark,” Danny called out. “I know, some of you were afraid of him the last time he came around. I know that some of you were even _there_ the last time he reigned as ghost king. But,” he took a deep breath, the white rings surrounding him and returning him to his white-haired state. “But we have to fight back. We can’t let him get away with this again. The Fright Knight has been released, Pariah Dark has begun his reign again.

“We can’t let him do this, not today, not any day. We have to stand up,” Danny looked around the room. “We have to fight back. I know some of us haven’t always gotten along – Old grudges, new grudges, slap-fights and bitter relations – but if we work together, we _can_ do this.”

Vlad stepped up beside him, meeting Danny’s eyes for a second before he linked their hands together. “I know how empty the Ghost Zone has gotten,” he told those gathered. “I know how it is to lose friends, to miss them while at the same time be angry at the circumstances separating you. I know you’re angry, you’re _furious_ and you have every right to be. But, and this is the important part,” he raised his chin, eyes narrowing. “This is not how it has to end. If you fight alongside us, you can get your home back. Not all the friends you’ve lost will return, but there is a chance you can bring some of them home again. What has been twisted into chaos can be set to right,” he nodded when a wave of murmurs spread through the room. “With any luck, we can bring home the lost and we can repair the Ghost Zone into the glory it was in before Pariah Dark stained it.”

A pair of black rings surrounded him and when they retreated, he was Plasmius for the first time in a while that William had seen. Instead of the deep blue skin and bright red eyes he remembered, Plasmius was almost human colored, with dark blue where the blood would have been closest to the skin. His eyes were red in the same way that Danny’s were green, the sclera white like a human eye.

His clothes had changed as well.

He wore a high-necked sweater and a pair of trousers tucked into knee-high boots, a cape like a Roman emperor’s might have looked like slung across his shoulders and draping halfway down his back. His long hair, now black, was pulled back into a braid.

The two of them looked fit to be rulers themselves.

For a moment, William wished he could have been there to watch his nephew grow up, proud of the man he seemed to finally have become.

 

X

 

When he opened his eyes, he was somewhere he had hoped never to be again.

Wilson groaned his frustration out loud, dropping his face into his hands. The land of the throne hadn’t changed an ounce since he’d managed to find his way out of it.

“Say, _pal_ ,” came a voice that he knew all too well. The way it spoke now, however, sent a prickle of fear down his spine. He hadn’t heard William sound like Maxwell in some months, now. The other man hadn’t had cause to sound like that, had been reformed as far as Wilson could tell. Had become his lover, the one who spent hours debating over scientific theories with him, the one he curled up in bed with at night.

He and his strange nephew and the rest of them had become something of a family for Wilson.

“You don’t look so good,” Maxwell’s voice was unmistakable, rough edges and smooth syllables. At once feral and kind, vicious, cruel, mocking, but also somehow jovial and almost loving. “There is something happening to your body.”

Wilson looked down at himself, frowning when he saw nothing wrong.

“No,” Maxwell’s chuckle was almost a threat. A hand reached down from behind him and curled under and around his jaw, pulling his head up gently. He could feel the claws on the fingers, could see the glint of sharp and terrible teeth in Maxwell’s smile. “Not this body, little scientist. The body that is out there, with the rest of them. Your _real_ body. The last thing you saw was the children, afraid for you.”

The children.

Oh gods, the clone children – he’d been watching over them when his mind had gone blank and his entire body had erupted into pain. “Are they alright?”

“You are so like your sister’s grandson, sometimes, it’s hilarious.” Maxwell’s face was touching his, their cheeks pressed together. “I am no less infatuated with you than my ridiculous other self. When you were attacked and I was let out to help, I planted a bit of myself in your mind to try and anchor you.”

“My sister’s grandson?” Wilson frowned, letting himself be held by the demonic presence of part of his lover. His sister had been years older than him, almost two decades older. She’d had four children by the time Wilson was born. One of them must have reproduced. “What is _happening?_ ” he shook off the curiosity about his bloodline, pressing on the issue of the children. “Something is happening, I can tell that.”

“The ghost king, the originator of the throne we both held,” Maxwell hummed tunelessly for a second, his thumb coming up to stroke Wilson’s cheek. “He has been released. My lighter half, the foozler that he is, is doing his best to fight against the beast that has been released.” He sneered, his upper lip pulling back. “But know this, little scientist; he will fight with everything he has to keep you safe and alive. He will call me, if he has to, because while we both control the shadows and the powers granted to us by the Nightmare Throne, I have the superior control over them.”

“What would you do to him, if you were allowed free reign?” Wilson leaned away from him. “Because if you so much as hurt him—”

“Your threats, though hilarious, are unnecessary.” Maxwell’s grin came again, the smoke from his cigar drifting in a Valentine heart around Wilson’s head. “I am a part of him. I could no sooner destroy him than myself – and why would I do either, when you are so willingly our prize?” he held the cigar away, leaning in close enough to share Wilson’s breath. “But you need to wake up. He will stagnant and rot without you by his side – you who keep things interesting, keep things exciting, keeps things humorous and give light to our bad days.”

Maxwell’s body was shaped exactly like William’s and Wilson couldn’t keep himself from almost melting into the demon’s touch. “You’re a fragment of the shadows,” he managed to get the words out with barely a stutter in them, one of his hands curling around the lapel of Maxwell’s suit to help keep his balance. “Left behind to grow roots in his mind. You are where the power comes from.”

“Somewhat,” Maxwell chuckled. “Brilliant as you are, I knew you would figure it out at least part of the way. Tell me, pal,” he rubbed the bridge of his nose against Wilson’s temple. “Can I trust you to give him a message?”

“Yes?” Wilson’s eyes were wide as he felt his back hit a wall.

Maxwell leaned in even closer, his lips brushing Wilson’s ear. “The king has a weakness in the waking world – In the world of the living. There is a reason that city is so spectrally active, a reason that town is infested with hauntings. Only those who can control shadows can access it.” He sucked in air for a second, his lips parting in a way that Wilson had come to associate with time alone with William. Sure enough, Maxwell’s lips covered his own, pressing the smaller man even more firmly against the wall, one hand still holding the cigar a safe distance away, the other wrapped around his waist. When Maxwell drew back with half-lidded eyes, he smirked, a smug laugh coming from deep in his chest.

“Make sure you tell him, little scientist.” Maxwell stepped back and pressed the tips of two fingers against Wilson’s forehead, shoving him through the wall.

 

Wilson woke up.

It was with an astonishing lack of grace, even compared to how he usually woke. He flailed, managing to roll off the surface he was laid out on. With a grunt, he landed on his hands and knees, pausing for a moment to cough the choking scent of cigar smoke out of his lungs and nose, then stood up on shaking legs.

William was here somewhere, he just knew. He could feel the man’s presence as surely as a cat could sense a mouse.

He licked his lips and managed to stumble across the room, determined, towards where William was sitting. A moment passed, staring at the man and memorizing the differences in his countenance from the demon that happened to look like him. William smiled so much more, the look of it brightening his face, leaving small lines that told of his good humor. His eyes were kind and ocean-like in their blue, vast seas that Wilson felt he could drown in if he were not careful.

He was a scientist, not a poet.

He resumed his stumbling pace and dropped down next to his lover, both hands reaching for him. Grasping his shirt in shaking fingers, Wilson pulled him closer, moving to clutch his face the moment he could, kissing him as deeply as he dared with the youngest grandchild in William’s lap.

The part of his soul that was feeling wretched and torn felt almost healed by the contact.

Wilson knew, without a doubt, that he had almost died. Could have died, perhaps should have. His heart beat fast in his chest and his hands buried themselves deeper into William’s hair, mussing the orderly shape of it as he brought the man closer. He could have lost this, could have been parted from his lover by a mistake he had made in his short term as king of the Nightmare Throne.

When the need for air grew to be too much, Wilson drew back, turning so that his back was pressed against the wall. “Need to tell you something,” he muttered.

“You are awake,” William’s voice was fragile-sounding, very nearly the same way Wilson felt at the moment. Out of the corner of his eye, Wilson saw William hand Dana and Damien off to one of the ones clustered around them, turning back and getting to his knees. William sat in front of him, eyes wide and full of a fear that Wilson recognized as the same fear thudding through his entire body. “You are _alright._ ” His voice cracked on the words and William surged forward, gathering Wilson in his arms until there wasn’t an inch of space between them.

Wilson’s hand crept up the back of his neck, pulling his face closer, leaning up to his ear. “A message from Maxwell,” he whispered. “He lives in your head and he is as fond of me as you are.” He giggled, feeling like he hadn’t slept in days. “The king of ghosts hides a weakness within the city. Only someone who controls shadows can access it.”

“I—” William drew back, cradling Wilson’s face between his hands. “Thank you,” he said softly. “The fighting is going to happen soon, we’re going to be making a bid for the defeat of the ghostly king.” He leaned in, pressing a kiss to Wilson’s forehead, pausing before he pressed another to his face. Then another and another, picking up in speed until he was pressing his lips to every part of Wilson’s face and Wilson could feel the quick-step thrum of his heartbeat under his palm. “I am going to leave you here. You will be safe—”

“I am _not_ staying behind like some worried girl waiting for her lover to return!” Wilson felt everything come into focus, glaring up at William for a moment with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Someone needs to watch over the children and there is no one else I would trust more,” William cajoled. “You are injured, it has to do with that in part, but I need assurance that the children will be safe. One of the foes we are facing has proven that she will come after them. If I am to go after whatever it is that is hidden, then I must know that my family is safe. I cannot keep Danny and Vlad away from the fighting, nor can I keep Dan and Danielle from it, but I can keep the children safe by entrusting them to the very person who keeps my heart so safe in his hands.”

At those words, Wilson’s entire face flushed and he ducked his head. “You and I will be having many long talks, after this,” he warned his lover. “About how good you are at making sure I do what you say.” He pulled William’s face close again, kissing him a few more times. “But yes. I will stay and watch over the children and keep whoever else is staying here company.”

“Thank you,” William stroked his cheek. “Thank you, my love.”

“You’re extremely lucky I love you so much,” Wilson muttered. “A simple sentence to keep me from the fight the rest of my family will be in…” he rolled his eyes.

“I know I am lucky,” William smiled for him. “Believe me, I know how _very_ lucky I am in that regard.”

Looking at him was like watching the sun come out from behind a cloud, Wilson thought as he laughed, feeling the residual aching in his body from the attack that had nearly killed him. He would indeed keep the children safe, would watch over those who stayed behind.

He was lucky, too.

William loved Wilson just as much as Wilson loved William.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day because I have gone vastly off schedule -- I might as well lean into it at this point.
> 
> Wilson and William needed to be seen to. I missed them.


	8. Soothing Thoughts

Jazz watched the room full of ghosts with her arms crossed over her chest, keeping an eye on her little brother.

There was something reassuring in the way he had given his speech, something that made her feel as if everything would be alright. If Danny wanted to, he could probably be a great politician, rousing the crowds and inciting them to do what he wanted them to do. He’d come a long way from the fourteen-year-old who’d hated speaking in front of the class.

She could even make herself be okay with Vlad joining in on the speech, seeming to take her brother’s side. The other man was the same species as her brother – was the only other of his species that was not related to him in some way. Ever since she had found out about Vlad being the same as Danny, she had a suspicion that the two of them would be drawn to each other. Whether it was good or bad, she’d thought they would be.

And they had proven her right, so many times.

No matter if they were fighting or making a grudging truce, they had been drawn to each other like moths to a flame. Vlad had chased her brother, had sought to make him his son for a while, but Jazz had always thought that it was an excuse to be near him.

Like their mother had been an excuse.

Watching the two of them now, however, made something in Jazz a little queasy. Her brother was looking to Vlad to give him backup, to keep him anchored and stable. Her little brother, her baby brother, was looking at Vlad like the older half-ghost had put the stars in the sky. There was something indescribably fond in Danny’s eyes when he looked at Vlad and Jazz, from as far away as she was, could see it.

She had a feeling that Vlad was too close to see it. The man couldn’t see the forest for the trees surrounding him.

Jazz sighed and pushed off of the wall, moving towards where she had seen the ghost that appeared to control the weather. She remembered one of them well enough, remembered enough to know that this was not the same one. She remembered this one from the ride to the tower, Danny had made her stop to pick him and the other up. Stepping in front of him, seeing that he was concentrating, she turned her attention to the others surrounding him. One of them looked up at her, blinking a couple of times.

“Ah,” he said, quiet and a little startled. “You are Danny’s sister, I recognize you.”

“…Have we met before?” Jazz offered him her hand, shaking his when he took it. “I’m Jazz Fenton.” She looked at the others. “Is there anything I can do to help? He looks like he’s trying to concentrate on something.”

“He’s trying to contact his student through an atrophied bond,” the one who had shaken her hand said. “My name is Henry, by the way. Henry Walters. I believe,” he frowned, hmm’d, then turned and tapped the shoulder of the ghost standing at his side. The ghost next to him was watching the crowd with worried eyes, though he turned when he was tapped. “Liam? Have you met Miss Fenton?”

“Jasmine Fenton,” the ghost laughed a little and stepped forward, hands clasped awkwardly at his back. “I do know her, yes. Straight-A student, one of my favorites to teach.”

Jazz blinked a couple of times, narrowing her eyes as she tried to identify him. “Wait, Mister Lancer?”

“Yes,” he smiled at her, then tapped his chest. “My heart gave out, not too long ago. I believe it was about…six months, now?” he turned to Henry. “You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t actually recall the correct timeline of it.” He turned back to her and she could see the teacher she’d known in the shape of his nose, the way he kept his beard trimmed. “I’d heard you were doing well in college.”

“I love college,” Jazz grinned. “Thank you for the letters of recommendation you and the other teachers gave me. I got into my first choice school and impressed enough that I got a scholarship.”

“I had heard – I am so glad that you are happy with it. As you may know, Amity High isn’t exactly known for success rates when it comes to graduations and what number of students go on to four years.” He sighed. “I did my best, but…There is only so much one teacher can do.”

“I think you counted as about seven teachers, Mister Lancer,” Jazz laughed. “You taught a lot of classes.”

The ghost standing on Henry’s other side turned to the conversation. “Oh! Someone is here. Forgive me, I was focused elsewhere.” He offered his hand as well. “My lovely storm over here tends to call me as Erato, so that is the name I introduce myself as. Who, may I ask, are you?”

“I’m Danny’s older sister, Jazz.” She shook his hand as well, her smile growing. “I know what his powers are,” she gestured at the one Erato had referred to as his lovely storm. “Weather. I mean, I’m assuming. But I don’t…” she gestured at the three of them. “Is that something I’m allowed to ask? I like finding out about the world my brother has lived in for a decade.”

“Knowledge seeker,” Erato looked pleased with that. “Oh, I love it when they want to _learn_!”

Henry nodded and grinned at him. “Erato was my teacher,” he told her. “We are the Ghostwriters – He can make things exist by writing about them, can make things exist as if they have always existed. I can make things bend to my will, can make people follow plots that I write. It is dangerous to have no control over such a power, as you might imagine,” he held up his hands when her eyes went wide. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of using such a power on anyone in this room.”

“…Did you ever use that on Danny?” Jazz felt her eyes going from wide-open to narrowed, her hands curling into fists on her hips.

“I did, once,” Henry looked sheepish. “He destroyed a manuscript of mine, one I had no other copies of. I did learn my lesson – I dared to attack him on the Christmas truce. That is something I have never lived down.” He winced under the second glare from Erato, his former teacher looking both angry and disappointed in him. “Trust me, I have learned my lesson.”

“Good,” Erato muttered.

Mister Lancer raised his hand a little, smiling in what Jazz knew was an attempt to make the conversation lighter again. “I have a title, actually. I am the Bookkeeper. I keep the books of the Writers. I keep the library of the Ghost Zone. I make sure the histories are accurate and in the right order.”

“Oh, that is fantastic!” Jazz turned back to him, her hands dropping from her hips. “I mean, I know you preferred English over everything else.”

“And I always did want to be a librarian,” Lancer nodded.

“That is so wonderful,” Jazz congratulated him. “It sounds perfect for you.”

As she was about to say something else, the storm controlling ghost seemed to be struck by lightning, his eyes going bright and wide, bolts of electricity shooting off of him. When the storm passed, he grinned a fang-filled smile and swept Erato into his arms. “Vortex and Nocturne are on their way!” he crowed the words out, swinging the ghost in sweeping circles.

Jazz watched until their pseudo-waltz became something more private, Erato leaning down from his place in the other’s arms to press their lips together. Her face flushing, Jazz looked away to give them privacy. “I’ve been out of Amity for a while, she told the two remaining with her. “What exactly happened? I know something big happened, Danny has kids with Vlad now, but…”

“There was an attack,” Henry shifted awkwardly. “A ghost who called himself Rewind. He managed to make myself and several others human, for a time. He tried to kill Daniel, Danielle, Vlad, Clockwork…It was a mess of a situation. He was attempting to take the Timekeeper’s position from him, make himself the Timekeeper.”

“So what happened to him?” Jazz felt a stirring of panic in her chest. Danny had probably nearly died _again_. She hated it when that happened, she could never quite reassure herself that her little brother was okay.

“Rewind was handily dealt with, your brother has an outstanding record for dealing with problems like him,” Henry assured her. “Rewind was taken away, along with the corrupt Observant. Both of them were to stand trial for their crimes.” He shook his head. “But that did not happen. Penelope Spectra met up with her brother in the courtroom. From what I have heard, the Observants are in shambles, none of them to be found.”

Jazz looked at the both of them, then turned towards the doorway when something that sounded like thunder roared outside.

“That,” Henry reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. “Is not what Vortex would do when he arrived somewhere.” He dragged her back, then turned her and sent her off towards Danny. Jazz followed, nodding when she saw what way he was sending her. “Go tell your brother.”

“Yeah,” Jazz looked back at the door, feeling a sort of panic rising in her chest. “Going.”

 

X

 

She hadn’t really planned on getting caught in a ghost attack.

With the straps of her backpack clenched tightly in her hands, she sat next to her father under the Fenton shields. The world had _really_ changed while she was away. That one city could be overrun by ghost attacks and everyone acted as if it were – Well, horrifying, but relatively normal.

Willow tilted her head up and tried to ignore the panicked whispers she could hear.

There was something about a ghost king, a menace named Pariah Dark, and it only made her think about the world she had escaped from. Apparently, none of the people in the Masters’ mansion were going to be answering the phone when called. She had called, a lot of times, and no one had. Leaning in closer to her dad, Willow moved one hand from her backpack to rub at her face. This felt, however much different it seemed, like the nightmare she thought she’d escaped.

A young woman, still probably a few years older than her, sat down beside her, followed shortly by a guy about the same age. “Hi,” the girl said, pausing a moment. Willow could feel herself being studied, could tell that they were scrutinizing. “Are you Willow Amadeus?”

“Yeah,” Willow relaxed a little.

Since she had come back into the world, there were very few people who knew her name. The ones who did tended to be part of the crew she’d found herself in. Either related to Vlad Masters or someone in that same circle.

“Cool,” the guy said, dropping down to sit on the floor. “I’m Tucker Foley. This is Sam. We’re friends of Danny’s. Were you trying to get ahold of him?” he jerked his chin towards the phone in her hand – it was still something she was adjusting to, being able to take her phone with her and have it be that small. “We checked out the mansion, no one is there.”

Next to her, her dad turned his head and noticed the new people. “Willow?”

“We’re okay, dad,” she looked at him and nudged her forehead against his shoulder. “These people are friends of Danny. They apparently can’t find him.” Willow smiled at him, then turned back to Tucker and Sam. “What have you been able to find out? Anything at all? I was supposed to go visit them, but then we got told that the city was in shutdown and we had to go behind the shields.” She frowned, then continued. “I don’t…Exactly love that the city is so much in danger all the time that there are ghost shields and the entire town relies on them.”

“Amity Park has always been like this,” Sam sighed, pressing her fingers into her forehead. “Here, one second.”

She pulled a cell phone out of her bag, a black model with a pair of bat wings on the back, and pressed a few things on the screen before holding it to her ear. She grinned for a moment when it seemed to connect, then scowled. “Danny?” she looked at Tucker. “It’s Sam.”

A pause, like the moment before the storm struck, and then: “Where the _hell_ have you been?! Do you know how worried Tucker and I have been, how scary it’s gotten out here? The entire city is overrun by ghosts! Damn it, Danny, I’m almost considering dragging Tucker’s ass through the portal!”

Another pause and Sam’s face twisted angrily. “That means—”

She groaned and looked like she wanted to hit him. “Did you ask your parents to put up the shields? Or Jazz? She’s not here.”

Sam looked at Tucker again, rolling her eyes. “Yes, the entire city fled for cover when it was announced. Willow’s here, too.” A beat. “Willow. The girl you guys told us about. The one who escaped from the weird nightmare world thing with the others. Maybe tell them so that they don’t worry about her?”

After that, Sam’s already pale face went even paler as the blood drained. “What?” she put her hand against Tucker’s face and pushed him back when the guy tried to lean in closer to listen. “Okay, what am I supposed to tell people?” she listened, then nodded. “Okay. Shit, this sucks.” She listened again, careful and silent for a minute, nodding along to whatever it was that Danny was saying. “Yeah, you told us about his kids, what—”

Sam nearly dropped the phone.

With a moment of fumbling, she kept hold of it, but she went dead-pale, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

“Yeah,” she stumbled over the word. “I’m still here.” She pushed a hand into her knee, grinding her palm into her thigh. It was a nervous gesture, Willow recognized that. Whatever she had heard, it was panicking. “Where are you right now?”

Sam nodded again. “Okay. Don’t die, you goof. I’m not giving up one of my best friends that easily.” She snorted. “I’ll tell them, and don’t worry.” She reached out and gently punched Tucker’s shoulder. “Got that part covered.” She pulled the phone away from her each and sighed, tapping the button to end the call. “Danny’s okay,” she told them. “For now, at least.”

Willow frowned, narrowing her eyes at the older girl. “What shocked you?”

“Oh, man, this sucks,” Sam pinched the bridge of her nose, the part of it between her eyes. It was obvious that she didn’t know how to phrase it, or maybe she thought Willow wouldn’t understand. “So, there’s these guys, called the Observants. They supposedly help make sure the Ghost Zone runs smoothly, part of the law and part of the rules.”

“Right, okay, with you so far,” Willow nodded. “What happened?”

“The Observants are gone,” Sam hid her face for a second. “As in, they went down and aren’t getting back up, according to Danny. Which means that the Ghost Zone is without the people making a framework of rules for it. Which means,” she turned to Tucker. “Anarchy in the Ghost Zone. I don’t like the Observants; from what Danny told us, they tried to get him killed a couple of times because they don’t see every path the timeline will take.”

“But they are important,” Tucker nodded. “I remember Danny saying that.”

Sam sighed and dropped her face back into her hands. “Go find Danny’s mom,” she told Tucker, parting her fingers to be heard. “Go tell his parents that he’s okay. He and Jazz are both okay. We need to do _something_ ,” she popped her head up, looking at Willow as Tucker stood up and went to find the Fentons. “Hey, so, welcome to Amity Park! Isn’t it exciting, literal nightmares dropping out of the sky to threaten our entire city!”

Willow couldn’t help it.

With the built-up tension of what was happening outside, the obviously panicked woman in front of her, the nightmarish situation they were all in, she just couldn’t help it.

She burst out laughing.

Outside, something shook the shields, the entire building quaking as well. Willow stopped laughing, then, pressing closer to her dad. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she let him, reaching one of her hands out to Sam. “I know you probably want to go help him,” she told the older girl. “But this feels like a ‘stay where you are’ kind of situation.”

With a small smile, Sam took her hand, holding it tightly for a moment. “One of my best friends is out there, fighting against this without me and Tucker to watch his back.” She looked across the room pointing out two people in odd jumpsuits. “Those are Danny’s parents. They’re probably worried sick.” She dropped her hand back into her lap, playing with the edge of her skirt. “Danny’s their youngest. He’s been fighting threats like these since he was fourteen.”

“Then he should be okay,” Willow felt her dad turn his head, reaching out a hand to rest on Sam’s shoulder. He smiled at Sam and nodded. “He has been fighting villains since he was a child, has he faced this one before?”

“Yeah, but it nearly killed him.” Sam looked up at them both, her purple eyes wide and slightly panicked. “And back then, it wasn’t an entire family of this guy. Apparently, there are siblings that are children to the monster he had to fight before.”

“…Siblings?” Willow frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The ghost king, Pariah Dark, has kids,” Sam sighed and sat up straight, taking a deep breath. “One of them is this nasty witch named Penelope Spectra. She feeds on misery. Danny gave us a brief summary of what he knew, texted us at some point.” She shook her head. “There are apparently three siblings we’re having to deal with. One is Spectra, another is this weird shadow thing that has been after him since he was fifteen and pissed it off. I don’t…Actually know much about the third one.” She pulled her phone back out, tapping around on it before holding it up to show Willow. “He said something about it coming from somewhere else.”

For a moment, Willow could hardly dare to breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t move.

And then she snatched Sam’s phone out of her hands, curling it in her white-knuckled grip and looked at the screen so intently that it might have burst into flame. “I know who the third one is,” she looked up, feeling a sickness roiling in her gut. “I know where he’s from. I had to fight with him a couple of times, had to watch out for him. He nearly killed William. He’s connected to the Nightmare Throne.”

Sam met her eyes. “Wait, what?”

“He tried to kill William. He’s part of the Nightmare Throne—”

“No, no,” Sam held out a hand to stop her and Willow felt the words freeze in her throat. Sam had said something about a ghost king. “Nightmare Throne?”

A ghost king and a Nightmare Throne. “Where does the ghost king come from?” she asked.

“I don’t actually know,” Sam looked just as panicked as Willow felt. “We need to tell Danny’s parents. If they’re from the world you escaped, then the shields might not work. Or—Or they might, but not for long.”

Willow stood up and kissed the top of her dad’s head. “I have to—”

“Go on, Punkin,” he smiled at her. “Go save the world. Always knew you’d do something great. But please,” he put a hand over his heart and Willow remembered him doing that whenever he wanted to extract a greater promise. “Come back to me this time?”

“I will, dad,” Willow smiled, then turned on her heel and walked away from him, following Sam at a jog.

 

X

 

Her entire body was numb.

It should have been more startling, but she’d already gotten used to that sort of thing. She’d spent a century being a monster called the Grue, numbness of body came with the territory.

Charlie opened her eyes to find that she still wasn’t awake.

“I know, you should be.” A voice called to her. “I’m sorry, I just needed to talk to you and now, with everything that is going on, I’m finally strong enough to do so.”

“Leena?”

The form of a woman with bright red hair in soft curls appeared in front of her. “The very same,” she smiled, her eyes filled with tears. “My brother did some damage to you – I am so sorry I couldn’t prevent it.” She rubbed the heel of her hand across a cheek, smearing away the trails of tears that had already fallen. “I was so worried that you would have died.”

Charlie stepped forward and took Leena’s hands in her own. “I don’t think I can,” she told the other woman. “Whatever I am, not a ghost, but not human anymore. I don’t think I can die.”

“But even the immortal can be obliterated,” Leena shook her head, more tears trailing down her face. “And I thought that I had caused you to die – Kravin is a vicious brute when he wants to be, especially when he has access to Braetheon. The two of them, together, is cause for many nightmares and fears.” She met Charlie’s eyes.

For a moment, Charlie felt light-headed and dizzy, but then the images came.

They were confusing, and it took her a minute, but she realized they were memories. Kravin, her brother, with his hand so tightly around Leena’s wrist that it left bruises. Leena forced to watch as Kravin murdered several, their bodies torn apart into nothingness. Braetheon standing guard over the slaughter, watching and motionless until Kravin stepped up to him and stood on his toes, a soft kiss to the grate on the front of Braetheon’s helmet.

Memory upon memory filled her mind, Leena’s tears falling faster and harder, her entire body shaking as she showed everything she could to Charlie. Spectra, a vicious and vile witch of a woman, making men and women alike tremble before her, their worst miseries taking over their mind. Urich, binding people to the throne and watching the power burn them from the inside until there was nothing left but ash.

And Leena, watching in horror as her family destroyed hundreds.

Their father was just as bad – Charlie saw him tearing people apart with his sword, saw him clawing eyes out and having people whipped and killed for daring to speak up against him.

An entire lifetime played out before her eyes, Leena’s hands tightening around hers. Charlie clutched just as tightly back, trying to anchor the girl. For all that she had seen, Leena was still only about seventeen years old. She always would be, unless and until she got her body back. Her aging had been halted, her brother having yanked her out of her physical form.

It had _hurt_.

The worst pain that Leena had ever felt and now Charlie felt it too.

By the time the memories were over with, Charlie had Leena gathered close to her, the girl’s head tucked against her chest. Distantly, she was aware that there was humming, some lullaby that her mother had sung to her, and Charlie felt her own face drenched in tears. “I’m sorry,” Leena sobbed the words out. “I’m _sorry,_ there was nothing I could do to _stop them,_ ” she shuddered, her arms wrapped tightly around Charlie, her hands clenched into tight fists in the fabric of her dress. “I couldn’t stop my brothers, my sister, I couldn’t stop my father—”

“And they ruined you for _trying_ ,” Charlie whispered, petting at her hair. “You were still a child, it was not your place to have to watch them, to stop them. You came and found me,” she choked on her own sob for a moment. “Because you needed someplace to hide.”

“I knew, somehow,” Leena pulled back, her arms shaking. It took some effort from them both to unclench her hands. “That you would be able to help me. Sort of. I nearly got you destroyed, though, I shouldn’t have—”

“You came and found exactly the right person,” Charlie shook her head, brushing off Leena’s protests. “Because I am me. I am strong in my own right and when I am given enough motivation, I can be _scary._ ” She smiled, wiping some of the tears off the girl’s face. “And I have some very _good_ friends.” She cradled Leena’s face in her hands. “And because you have been with me for so long, you do _too_. If they can help us, I know they will.”

“I don’t know how much I can do,” Leena pressed her lips together for a moment, trying to take deep breaths. “I don’t have a body, I’m attached to your mind.”

Charlie grinned. “Well, it’s a good thing I know some ghosts,” she told her. “Because I think we can manage to bring you out without losing you.” She brushed Leena’s curls back and away from her face, arranging them over one of her shoulders. “Do you think you can handle being a ghost for a time?”

Leena nodded, still crying softly. “Yeah.”

“Alright,” Charlie kissed her forehead, hugging her tightly once more. “I have to wake up. When I do, I’ll see about getting you into the world again.”

“Thank you,” Leena hugged her back, tucking her face into Charlie’s shoulder. “ _Thank you._ ”

 

Much like Wilson and William before her, Charlie woke up to a room full of people.

Unlike them, however, she was able to stand without trouble, her feet steadied, and her hands clenched at her sides.

Somehow, she knew what she needed to do, who she needed to talk to.

With that thought in her mind, Charlie stormed across the room, moving neatly between the people. Something was happening, she knew that much, but she also knew she needed to get Leena out _now._ The girl needed to be out of her head before she had to fight again or they might both be lost if something happened. Leena was right – Charlie might not be human anymore, but she would likely still be able to be destroyed if it came down to that.

Charlie approached the ghost with long black hair and a belt made of bells, bangles on her wrists and a bracelet wrapped around her upper arm. She looked, to Charlie, like the old drawings of an Indian dancer woman that she’d seen once. “I need to speak with you,” she told the ghost once her attention had landed on Charlie.

“I can see her in your mind,” the ghost whispered. “I cannot see who she is, but I can see that she is there.”

“And she needs to be out,” Charlie faltered for a second, nervousness roiling in her gut. “I think you can help me with that, but I am unsure how.”

“I grant wishes,” the ghostly woman said, then looked regretful. “But they often come out wrong. I could do my best to help you, do my best to keep things steady, but I have no guarantees for you.” She offered Charlie her hands. “But I can tell you need some help with it.”

Taking her hand, Charlie followed her as she moved across the room. “This is Clockwork,” the ghost introduced her to another ghost, this one wearing purple. “He may be able to help.”

“Help with what?” Clockwork’s eyebrow rose.

Charlie took a deep breath. “Her name is Leena. The youngest of the ghost king’s children.” She met his eyes, her free hand clenching into a tight fist at her side. “She needs a ghostly form, and to be out of my head.” She gestured at the ghost she had first approached. “And she says you may be able to help us with that.”

“I think I can help with that.” Clockwork’s smile was almost smug and, somehow, Charlie found herself liking him. She felt like he knew exactly where the boundaries of his abilities lay – but he always would keep pushing them, even if the pushing looked more like inching at times. He would do what he could to help people, even if that help came across as a cryptic riddle of some kind. His help was the kind that would be hard to understand until the time was right.

He turned and waved the staff he held, an image filling in the circle he formed. The picture was like a window and Charlie could see the home she had grown up in. He drew another circle, next to the first, and she saw what must have been Leena as a child. “The two of you are connected in the mind,” he turned back to her. “You have been for so long, it likely feels like you’ve never been without her there.” He drew a third circle, this one showing Leena as the age she had been, the age she would stay at if nothing changed. “Desiree,” he turned to the ghost Charlie had approached first. “This is who you are replicating.”

A chilled hand landed on Charlie’s shoulder and she turned to face Desiree again. “I need you to wish,” Desiree told her. “I need you to wish that Leena had a ghostly form, that she was standing next to you instead of in your mind.”

“I can…Mitigate.” Clockwork chuckled for a moment. “There are side effects to Desiree’s wish-granting, but I can mitigate some of them. Most of them, actually. The two of you just need to focus on the hard part,” he waved towards the images of Leena and Charlie. “Getting the girl out of your mind is going to be a delicate process – You, Charlotte Luxen, need to let your thoughts be still. If you fight against it, there is a chance it will not work.”

Charlie nodded, then sat when Desiree nudged her, the ghost sitting in front of her.

“I wish for Leena to have a ghostly form,” she started, feeling _something_ take hold of her words. “For her to be next to me, so that she can act independently of me.” She closed her eyes when Desiree put her hands to Charlie’s temples and took a deep breath.

She had been taught meditation, once.

It had been a part of another circus they’d been traveling with, a clairvoyant who had taught her some tricks that would be useful if she were to continue working with William. She drew on that now, on the memory of the stillness of her body, the quiet of her thoughts, the only thing she was aware of being her breathing.

After a minute, she felt a tug in her mind, then another.

It was like a headache she hadn’t even realized was there suddenly easing and her mind became clearer. She felt a person lean against her side, a hand taking hers, and she opened her eyes only when Desiree pulled back.

Leena sat next to her, exactly as she had in their shared mind, her eyes closed and her head drooping to rest on Charlie’s shoulder. “Hello,” she whispered.

“Hello,” Charlie smiled and pulled her into another hug. When she looked at them, Clockwork and Desiree were both smiling. “Thank you,” she told them, keeping Leena close. “I didn’t know how I was going to help her if this hadn’t worked. Did anything go wrong?” she looked at Leena, the girl seeming exhausted. “Nothing seems to have gone wrong.”

“Nothing has,” Clockwork said simply. “Desiree’s wish-granting only goes wrong if the wishes are selfish in some way. In any way.”

Desiree looked up at him. “Selfless wishes,” she took a moment, then floated up and nodded. “Of _course._ Selfless wishes are safe, of course they are.” She laughed. “It makes sense, after what he did to me. I can only grant wishes to those who would use them for selfless means, otherwise, the wish will turn out wrong.” She laughed again, then floated away into the crowd.

Clockwork settled on the ground next to Charlie. “Something is going to happen, soon,” his voice was quiet, his staff laid across his lap. “I would suggest you take shelter.”

“My friends need to have someone watching their backs,” Charlie smiled at him. “There is no chance I am sitting this out.”

“My family needs to be stopped,” Leena’s voice was quiet, her eyes big and watery looking. “I couldn’t stop them before, maybe this time I can. I won’t be fighting alone, after all. That’s an advantage I didn’t have last time.” She smiled at Clockwork, then nodded. “I need to stop them.”

Charlie stood up and helped Leena to her feet, steadying her until she could stand on her own. “And we will fight alongside you,” she told the girl. “You need our help and so our help you shall have. You shouldn’t have been expected to stop your family – That is far too much to expect from the youngest. You were still a child. It should not have been your job.” She took Leena’s hand. “Come on, you should meet my friends.”

Neither of them noticed Clockwork watching them as they walked away, his hands clenched tightly around his staff, a regretful expression on his face before his eyes slid shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leena has arrived! I've been waiting for this moment for a while. Hopefully there are people out there who are enjoying this.
> 
> Also: Neither Charlie nor Leena are paying attention to the careful warning of the guy who watches over the timeline. Who _sees the fucking future._
> 
> This will only end in tears.


	9. Falling In Place

There were more ghosts gathering than he had expected.

Danny took a deep breath, twisting his hands together. With every new face he saw, he felt more and more surprised. This might actually work. The fight against Pariah Dark might actually succeed.

He turned to the kids, crouching down to be on the same level as them. “I know you want to help,” he told them quietly. “But I think the best way you can help me is by staying here.” He met Dawyn’s eyes. “All of you. I need you to stay together. Dana and Damian are going to need people to stay and watch over them.

“B-but,” Dawyn took a deep breath, the same motions Danny made. “You’ll be o-out there.”

“Not on my own,” Danny put a hand on his shoulder. For the size of him, Dawyn still only had the mental coherence of an eleven-year-old. “None of them will let me be on my own.” He glanced at Vlad, who had come to awkwardly hover nearby. “Vlad won’t allow it, Dan won’t allow it, Jazz won’t allow it.” He looked back at Dawyn and the others again. “Jazz especially. She found out that I was fighting back against dangers like this when I was about fifteen years old and she refused to let me be alone in it then.”

Danny let the boys crowd against him, Dawyn diving into his arms first. Daven followed, curling around his brother and settling his head against Danny’s ribs. Dana and Damian moved almost at the same time. “It’ll be okay,” he told them, even as he felt the flash and spark of worry in his gut. “We’ll come back.”

“We just need to eliminate the threat,” Vlad’s voice was soft, on the edge of soothing. “We are never going to leave you alone.” He came in from the other side of the cluster of clone children, hugging them to him as well.

Meeting his eyes over their heads, Danny nodded.

When Vlad nodded back, they both stood up. There was a lot they would need to talk about, but it would have to wait. The brief flickers of interest they kept showing each other were promising but Vlad needed to still be talking to someone. Danny and Vlad needed to talk about a lot of things, not limited to just how to raise their children together.

A part of Danny wanted it to be just that.

Raising them together.

Living together and working together and raising the kids together. Dan was practically the college-aged son, coming home for visits occasionally.

This was not the time for talking about it.

He picked Dana up, curling her close for a minute, his nose tucked into her hair. These were the only children he would ever get to have, unless Vlad decided to clone more. Which, at this point, he hoped the older Halfa would ask him if he were going to get into that again. When Dana squirmed, Danny relinquished her into Vlad’s arms. “We’ll keep each other safe,” he told the boys. “All of your family will be coming home after this.”

“Yes,” Vlad kissed Dana’s forehead, then kneeled down and settled her in Dawyn’s lap. “But you all need to keep each other safe, too. That’s the job you can do. Keep each safe, together, and here.” He met Danny’s eyes again. “We’ll bring each other back home.”

When he stood, he took Danny’s wrist in his hand and pulled him away, both of them glancing back to see Wes and Abigail move in and try to distract them. “We need to talk,” Vlad’s voice was shaky as he muttered the words. He brought them to the room off to the side, no one inside of it, then let go of Danny’s wrist. “This is going to be dangerous, Daniel.”

“Yeah, it is,” Danny took another deep breath. “But we have to.”

“Of course we do,” Vlad made a noise that might have been a laugh. “But I just wanted to say—There are many things I want to say to you,” there was a smile on his lips, small and hesitant but _there_. “We will have to talk, when this is all over. There are so many things I want to say to you, so many things left to do and say and I need you to be alive to hear them.”

“Which means you need to be alive to hear what I say to you,” Danny shot back, grinning. “Just so we’re all clear on that.”

This time, it was definitely a laugh.

Before Danny could say anything else, there was a rumbling that shook the entire tower.

“Break’s over,” Danny looked around, turning on his heel and running for where he’d last seen Clockwork. The ghost was back in the center of the room, practically surrounded by various portals filled with images that were flickering too fast for any others to see. Dan was at his back, a hand on his shoulder as if to keep him grounded. “What’s happening?” he asked both of them, unsure if he would even get an answer out of the Timekeeper.

“Pariah Dark’s army is approaching,” Dan spoke up, glancing at Clockwork’s portals. “We think that the rumbling might be caused by something else, though.”

“Something else?” Danny glanced at the portals as well, even though he couldn’t see what was happening on them. “I’m not sure I like something else. Did the others go out and put up defenses?”

“Undergrowth and Frostbite and Maelstrom,” Dan nodded. “Thorned plants, ice and snow about eighteen feet deep, a barrier of storms. This feels so _very much_ like a last stand, it is ridiculous.” He turned to look at the door. “I think Maelstrom is required to stay out there to keep his barrier going. I heard his student was supposed to arrive at some point, so the two of them might very well be out there together. The Writers both went to help, as well. Henry will be less helpful than the original GhostWriter, but they will still both be useful.”

“Good,” Danny nodded, then turned and almost ran into Jazz. “What’s going on?”

“I was told that there was a noise at the front gates but it wasn’t the sort of noise Vortex would make when he got here,” Jazz said the words in a rush, like she was trying to get them out before she lost them. “Something’s happening outside.”

Without even stopping to think of any other course of action, Danny ran for the door.

Outside was a mess of the various barriers that had been put up – Undergrowth’s thorns were at least as long as Danny’s arm, shoulder to fingertip, with smaller thorns filling in the gaps. Beyond the snow and the storms, Danny could see Maelstrom and Vortex, side-by-side.

Beyond them, he could see the Fright Knight.

The noise that had alerted whoever had told Jazz must have been from him, each of his steps putting a visible dent into the ground whenever he moved. The barriers were holding against him, keeping him back, but he seemed to be fighting against them. There were shadows tied to him, seemingly bolstering his strength, and Danny swallowed nervously as he watched Pariah Dark’s son pace in the distance.

“I remember these powers,” the Prince’s voice rang out, barely able to be heard over the storm. Maelstrom and Vortex tensed up, keeping their storms going as they watched him like a cat watching a bug on the ceiling. “They are _old_ , little Halfa. They are older than me, even—Which is an accomplishment, really!” he laughed and Danny felt a little sick at the sound. “But they were under threat for so long, remnants of my father’s reign that were deemed dangerous and liable to malfunction. Do you really think they will continue to help you if it means their discontinued existence?”

The Fright Knight raised his sword, his head tilted at an angle that meant he was considering Danny.

“They are relics, much like my own father,” Kravin, that was who it had to be, grinned and Danny could see it, even from a distance. “If they were to unite under me, then I would keep them safe, let their powers be freed and without _limits!_ ”

Danny clenched his fists, watching as his ice gauntlets formed. “I can’t say anything about what they might want,” he answered the ghost’s challenge. “But I don’t want to not have limits. The people who think they don’t are usually the ones committing genocide.” He took to the sky, slowly and steadily, and flew through the storm, coming to a stop next to Vortex. “And I don’t want any part in that.”

Both weather ghosts turned and smiled at him.

“Is Nocturne here?” he asked Vortex in a much quieter voice. “We have safe rooms, inside, if he wants to be in there.”

“Nocturne has already said he’s going to help,” Vortex chuckled. “My beautiful little nightmare, the most brilliant of stars, my beloved godling, wants to run around the battlefield and shove his bad dreams into their heads.” He jerked his chin up, still grinning. “He’s on top of the storm, watching from above until it’s time to fight.”

“Good,” Danny glanced over at Kravin again. “Because I think we’ll need all the help we can get.”

Maelstrom nodded. “In all likelihood.”

 

X

 

The rumbling hadn’t stopped.

Vlad stood at the door, his eyes closed as he faced the door that was, by all appearances, merely made of wood. This was the tower of the Timekeeper, it had survived the reign of the king as it had been before, it would hopefully survive this.

Daniel had gone out into the storm alone, to see to the beginning of things.

There was a plan, carefully crafted and strung together with string and hope – there was little else to bind it all together with. So many different powers, so many people involved. Too many different ideas and their side would fall to petty squabbling.

He clenched his hands tightly at his sides, taking a deep breath.

If they could pull this off, it would be the biggest unification in the history of the Ghost Zone. There had never been this many ghosts working in unison before, not even originally fighting against Pariah Dark. Vlad could hear some of the older ghosts talking about that time as he walked through the crowd, fighting back the urge to grab the children and flee for the safest space he could find.

Daniel needed his help.

Daniel needed his help and the children needed his protection. Even the ones that were grown up enough to take care of themselves. Dan and Danielle, the oldest two, they had both quietly admitted they still needed him and Daniel. If nothing else, for someone to talk to about their own odd nature.

Vlad took another deep breath as the shaking continued.

He couldn’t stay inside and watch over what was happening. He needed to find Daniel, be at his side and show a unified front. That was how these things went – unify the front and make a stand together.

Hopefully, it would not be a last stand.

A hand landed on his shoulder and Vlad turned to see William. “We have to go,” he whispered, gesturing to Wilson with a jerk of his chin. “There is something we must do and we must do it while there is distraction and chaos for us to do it under the cover of.” His hands were shaking and Vlad took a moment to cover the one on his shoulder with his own. “Something that will help everyone here, if we do it correctly.”

“Then go,” Vlad nodded. “I need to go stand with Daniel. Whatever it is you need to do, go do it.”

“I wish you luck, nephew,” William’s smile was small, almost overwhelmed by the worry and panic on his face. “May we see each other again when this is all over. May we still be somewhat alive to do so.”

With another nod, Vlad let go of his hand, then looked at Wilson. “Keep each other alive,” he said, his voice soft. “Make sure you keep him safe, the both of you. I’ve lost far too much of my family, I do not intend to lose the both of you, nor any of my children. When this is over, we can return to this place and gather again.”

“Very well,” William turned to Wilson and took his hand, both of them stepping through the shadowed portal that opened for them.

Vlad hurried through the crowd, ducking out the door and arriving on the front steps.

There were storms to all sides of him, thick plants with thorns as long and thick as his arm. There were sheets of ice over everything, turning the ground into a slick surface that would at least debilitate anything daring to walk over it.

Even ghosts.

In the middle of the storms, Vlad could see two figures with their arms outstretched. Out further than that, he could see Daniel.

The younger Halfa was floating with his shoulders squared up and his head raised proudly. The ice gauntlets he had been favoring were on his hands, his fingers curled into them tightly. Out in the distance, like a blight on their lives, was one of the Shadow Princes. If he was right, it was Kravin. With him stood the Fright Knight, bigger than the last time Vlad had seen him, at least half-again as tall as he had been.

Vlad swallowed down his panic and strode forward, taking to the air, and floated next to Daniel.

“Oh, look, it’s the other one,” Kravin’s voice made Vlad’s stomach twist, more than a little unsettled by the tone of it. There was just something about the sound of him speaking that made Vlad want to rip his eardrums out.

This was the brother of the creature that had pulled his life apart. The sibling of the monster that had forced him out of his friends’ lives, replaced him and drained him and ruined him. His hands clenched into fists at his sides and Vlad raised his head, mimicking the upright posture Daniel held. “Yes, it is the other one,” he called back.

His hands burst into flames.

It took every single mask built up over the last twenty years not to startle at that, but Vlad managed it. The flames were curling hotly around his hands, twining around his fingers like they wanted to comfort him.

“Oh, now, that _is_ a surprise,” Kravin’s laughter was smug. “I could have sworn my sister told me she had made your core corrupt. Incapable of using the powers she could tell you were going to have. You are not the first Halfas we’ve encountered. The others were far too easy to disable, wiped out in one fell swoop.” He stepped forward, still seeming so far away. He was taunting them, Vlad knew, threatening them with a practically empty hand. Until his father’s army arrived, Kravin was bluffing with nothing to use against them.

He could only use the emotional breakage that his sister had provided him.

Vlad breathed out through his nose, feeling steam billow around his face, his eyes narrowing. “Seems your sister is not as good as she thinks she is.”

“Or you’re much better at pretending than I thought you were,” Kravin’s laughter echoed across the space between them. “Still feeling so brave, when this field will be stained with the remains of those you’ve pulled in to help you?” he grinned and even from the distance, Vlad could see the sharpness of his teeth. “Are you sure you can hold their deaths on your conscience?”

“They’re not going to die,” Daniel’s voice was like an anchor in the storm of his mind and Vlad moved a little closer to him. “We’re not going to let that happen.”

Then he reached out and took Vlad’s hand in his own.

The flames around Vlad’s hand twisted around the ice on Daniel’s, swirling neatly around it and melting intricate patterns into the very surface. The entire thing stayed intact, however, and Vlad clenched his hand around Daniel’s. “None of our side will pay the price for fighting back against an injustice,” Vlad called across the field, finding strength from the body next to his. Daniel held his hand just as tightly, as if he were afraid to let go.

They were together in this, as they should be.

As they had always meant to be.

Vlad inspected that thought for a moment, turning it over in his mind and Daniel’s fingers clutched tightly at his own. They were in this together. They were something closer to friends, now, closer to the same side than they had once been. Daniel and he could have something together, if they so chose.

He tried not to pin his hopes on that.

He was still recovering, still healing, and he knew it was only a backslide or two between himself as he was now and himself as he had been. Taking another deep breath, straightening his spine out a few more degrees, Vlad let himself face the danger in front of them and grin. His teeth were sharp and smoke was fogging out around them as he opened his mouth. “You and your siblings are the greatest injustice,” he called out to the Shadow Prince. “Daniel is in the habit of being a hero. As for me,” he chuckled. “I may not be in that same habit, but I will certainly not let you harm those who mean something to me.”

He tightened his hand around Daniel’s, feeling his eyes flash to glowing.

Daniel squeezed back, glancing over at Vlad with his own grin as he nodded. “I mean…Your sister made both the Halfas team up. We teamed up literally just to fight against her and what she’s doing.” He leaned forward slightly, bending gently at the waist. “Do you think it’s a good idea to join her side? You’ve got us both angry now.”

Kravin’s eyes glinted in the light of the Ghost Zone and he snarled. The Fright Knight, at his side, simply brought his sword up a little higher.

Behind them, Pariah Dark’s army approached.

“Let the battle begin,” Vlad muttered. “Stay alive, Badger.”

“You too, Frootloop,” Daniel whispered back. “Doesn’t help with the talking about things if you go full ghost while this is happening.

 

X

 

A quiet had fallen over the crowd of people inside the Fenton ghost shield.

Willow clutched her bag tighter, dipping her hand into it and finding the arm of her bear. Something was happening, she could feel it in the air. It felt like the Shadow World before something had attacked her, chased her further into the darkness. Whatever was happening, something was coming and it worried her a lot.

At her side, her dad put a hand on her shoulder. “Willow,” he leaned in to speak to her. “If you need to go somewhere, then go. If you’re that worried about your friends, then go.”

“I shouldn’t,” she turned to look at him, smiling. She had spent ten years in the Shadow World, away from him. She hadn’t aged in that time, but he certainly had. There were newer lines on his face, wrinkles she hadn’t seen develop. This was her dad, the only parent she had ever remembered having. He had always been her best friend, the one she talked to about everything, the one who taught her everything he knew.

There had been a reason, after all, why she had been so desperate to get him back that she’d talked to nightmares and built a Door.

“Punkin’,” he put his hands on her cheeks, reassuring as he smiled. “You were gone for ten years, but I still remember what your determined face looks like. If you need to go find them, then go. I’ll wait here and make sure to stay alive.” He kissed her forehead. “If you need to go, then go. Take your lighter, take your stuff so you have supplies if you need them.”

Willow took a deep breath, then nodded. “Dad—”

“Go, kiddo,” he grinned. “You’re tangled up in this mess and you feel like you need to do something or you’re going to explode. I know. You’ve always been like that, your mother was too.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck for a minute, then nodded. “Thank you. Stay safe, okay?”

“Sure will, punkin’.” He patted her back, then gently nudged her away. “Now go!”

She rushed to her feet, half-dragging her bag as she darted towards the door. Pushing past people, she caught the gaze of Sam where she stood next to Tucker in the crowd. Willow jerked her head, gesturing towards the door.

She didn’t stop moving, but she did feel Sam’s hand on her shoulder as she went. Tucker was just behind the two of them.

Something was happening and the people she’d been through hell with were in danger, if she was right about this. The people who had gotten her to safety, had gotten her back to her father, had gotten her home and safe and taken care of. Wilson and William had been the only things dragging her back to reality, Dan and Vlad and Danny had been the ones to get her home again.

She owed them a debt and right now, she had a feeling they needed her help.

There was uncertainty in that thought – how the hell was she going to help them? – but she steeled herself anyway. The answer was obvious, once she thought about it for a minute.

In whatever way she could.

“What’s your plan?” Sam asked, managing to keep pace with her. Neither of them slowed, not for a second, even when she made a beeline for the edge of the shield. Tucker made a noise of protest, but kept up with them as they ran. “Willow?”

“I don’t know,” Willow shook her head, feeling her hair whip around her face. “I _don’t **know.**_ ” She stopped, just outside the edge. The sky overhead was darkening, though the clocks were saying it was only mid-afternoon. Kids should have just been getting out of school, lives should have been continuing on as normal. This world, the world of reality and normality, felt like the world she had been trapped in for a _decade_ and she clenched her hands uselessly. She had to help –

How could she help?

The shield was holding, for now, and she could see Danny’s parents up in the control tower. Off in the distance, she could see a dust cloud whipping up at the edge of the city.

She had spent a decade in a nightmare world.

Taking a deep breath, she looked over at Tucker. “Have you got a phone?” she waited while he nodded, patting down his pockets before almost launching it at her face in his hurry to get it out. “Good,” she turned to Sam. In the cloud of dust, the storm building, she could see shapes that made her shiver – too familiar, things that should never have been in the real world in the first place. “I need something to draw with. On the ground.”

“Here,” Sam dug her hands into the small backpack she was carrying, fishing around for a few seconds before pulling out a couple of tubes of something. “Liquid eyeliner. Not the best option, but it’s what I have.”

She had traveled with Wilson and William.

William had been willing to let her take a few looks at his book of spells, over the time they had spent together. She remembered one of the spells, clear as day. A protection rite, something she could scribble on the ground. “Cool,” she nodded, unscrewing the cap and bending down. “Here,” she handed a tube back to Sam. “Copy what I draw, we need to surround the house with it.”

“Wait, what?” Tucker laughed and she could tell he was nervous. “Why are we drawing things on the ground? If it’s for protection, there’s the ghost shield.”

“Yeah, and that’ll only keep out ghosts,” Willow stopped and looked up at him. “I—Does your phone have a camera?” she waited until he nodded. “Good. Take photos of what we’re drawing, send them to as many people as possible. Text the photos along, tell the receiver to do the same. We’re making some antique magic go digital.”

She could help – combine the sets of her knowledge, make something new, make something better.

Her hands shook as she worked, her heart hammering in her chest and her knees feeling weak. The shadows in the storm, rearing up and looming closer, were too familiar. She had managed to finally make it home.

She would be _damned_ if she let her home, her new friends, the people she had grown attached to, be destroyed by the nightmares that had nearly driven her insane in that world of shadows. “Got any rubbing alcohol?” she turned to Sam again. “I want to light a circle of fire outside of the protections. Rubbing alcohol burns fairly well, keeps itself sustained, and looks invisible until it flares. Hurts like hell if you step into it.”

“I like the way you think,” Sam laughed. “I know where some is in the house.”

“Go get it,” Willow nodded, pulling out her lighter. “We do what we can because we must,” she glanced towards the shadows again. “No other options, really.”

Tucker stared at her as Sam dashed away again, his jaw dropped. “What sort of _training_ did you _have?_ ” he choked the words out, his phone held in white-knuckled hands. “What sort of life have you lived that this is something you’re prepared for?”

“A very protective dad who protected me by teaching me survival,” Willow grinned. “A Home Alone style imagination. A love of fire.”

“Well,” Tucker snorted. “Alright then.”

Laughter welled up in her chest and she felt a little unhinged. “If this is the fight we die in, we go out doing our best to kick their asses.”

“Agreed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I live!
> 
> I did a stupid thing -- I dropped my external hard drive. All of four inches, but it flipped onto its top. This broke the driver arm. This story was then trapped on the broken drive. Bit by bit, I'm retrieving stories off of it, when it works, but this was one I was having trouble with. The drive flat-out killed one of my other stories (Fullmetal Alchemist AU) by deleting it when I was saving it. 
> 
> So it could have been worse. 
> 
> But I got this story back last night! So have a new chapter and just know, if you like this series, that it's coming back.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, remember Rewind?
> 
> He was a crazy dick who didn't like humans but he does remember what Pariah Dark and his court were like -- in particular, what his children were like.


End file.
